
Glass 



BooIuWJSS. 







BRIGHAM YOUNG. 



J 



v 



LIFE AMONG 



THE MORMONS, 



AND 



A MARCH TO THEIR ZION: 



TO WHICH IS ADDED A CHAPTER ON THE INDIANS OF THE 
PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS OF THE WEST. 



BY AN OFFICER OF THE U. S. ARMY, 



W«'!i»^rn 




^ e. r S 




fi t- NEW YORK : 
MOORHEAD, SIMPSON. & BOND. 



i 8 6S 



1 



INTRODUCTION. 



Last spring I left St. Louis under orders of Major-Gcn- 
eral Pope, then commanding the Department of the Mis- 
souri, to accompany troops from that City to Camp Douglas, 
which overlooks the City of the Saints in the valley of the 
Great Salt Lake. 

I started without any intention of writing a line descrip- 
tive of my journey, further than might be contained in my 
private correspondence ; nor did I conceive the idea of pre* 
paring anything for publication until several weeks after the 
completion of my journey, when, in a letter from my friend, 
to whom I have inscribed this book, I was requested to fur- 
nish an account of my journey, and of the Mormons, for pub- 
lication in the New Orleans Advocate, of which he is the 
editor. 



vi INTRODUCTION. 

I commenced a series of letters, with m.:ny misgivings a. 
to my ability to make them entertaining or instructive. As 
the only record I kept of my experiences and observations 
was in a small pocket diary, I lacked the inspiration, which 
a record of scenes and events would have received if writ- 
ten about when they were observed or transpiring, and had 
to trust much to memory for incidents. 

At the conclusion of the series my friend again comes 
forward and suggests their publication in book-form. Several 
other friends agreeing with him as to the fitness of things 
in doing so, I have relied upon their judgment more than 
upon my own, and compiled the letters for publication in 
their present form. 

All the letters have been carefully revised, and some of 
them considerably elaborated, while those in which I 
attempted a history of the Mormons have been almost 
entirely rewritten and very largely added to. 

It has been my fortune to have extraordinary opportuni- 
ties of familiarizing myself with the practices and inner life 
of that strange people, and what I have herein recorded is 
no mere sensational narrative, to create a popularity for the 
work, but a plain statement of what 1 believe to be facts 



I 



INTRODUCTION. vii 

I am not at liberty to mention the names of the parties 
from whom I received most of the information concerning 
the Mormons ; but suffice it to say it was from those who 
spoke of their own personal knowledge and observation. 

Having no aspirations for notoriety as an author, and 
having written these pages more for the gratification of my 
friends than for any advantage that can accrue to me indi- 
vidually, I would refer the reader to the Rev. Dr. New- 
man, as in a measure responsible for the publication, and I 
have no doubt, if he cannot indorse all that I have written, 
he will vouch for the honesty) and disinterested motives of 

The Author. 

Utah Territory, i867. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGK 

FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH TO FORT KEARNEY. 

Fort Leavenworth. 1 8th U. S. Infantry. Major Van Voast and other offi- 
cers. The Ladies. Large Train. Incidents connected with it. An 
Old Friend. Indirect Roads. The Overland Stage Route. Ranches. 
Character of the Country. The Mirage. Amusements. Indians. I 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM FORT KEARNEY TO FORT McPHERSON. 

Fort Kearney. Without any Work of Defence. Dilapidated Post. 
Additions to our Command. More Ladies. The Great Overland 
Emigrant Route. Small Trains in an Indian Country. Change in 
appearance of Country. View from the Sand Buttes. Indian Outrages. 
Ranches for Defence. 



CHAPTER III. 

FROM FORT McPHERSON TO FORT SEDGWICK. 

Fort McPherson. New Post. Its Garrison. Death. Grazing for our 
Animals. Taking in a Herd. Ranches again. Beauvais. Trading 
Arms and Ammunition to the Indians. Neglect of Agricultural 
Pursuits and why neglected. Buffalo Gnats. An Officer narrowly 
escapes being Shot. Julesburg. Adobe Houses. Fort Sedgwick. 
Major Norris. Folding the Platte. Cold Weather. The Command 
Divides. 1 6 



x CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PAGB 

ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 

Why the Creek is so Named. An Indian Lodge. Occasional Disappear- 
ance of the Stream. Natural Route for the Pacific Railroad. Beaver 
Dams. Antelopes. Prairie Dogs. Rattle Snakes. Lonely Route. 
Severe Hail Storm. 24 



CHAPTER V. 

THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS. 

Snow-c'ad Mountains. Prairie Flowers. Black Hills. Old Fort Walbach. 
A Canon. Pretty Camping Ground. Hilly Journey. Snow-balls 
in June. Grand View of Laramie Plain and Medicine Bow Mountains. 
A Party of Sioux Indians. A Cold Bath. No Game. Elk. Cold 
Nights. Soldier Burned by the Indians. 31 



CHAPTER VI. 

FROM FORT HALLECK TO THE NORTH PLATTE. 

Fort Halleck. New Post. Fort John Buford, and afterward Fort 
Sanders. Unsettled and Wild Country. Disregard of Civil Law. 
Summary Executions. High Prices. Command Further Reduced. 
Soldiers Healthy on a March. More Wild Flowers. Fatal Accident on 
the North Platte. Affecting Scene. The Overland Stage Company. 
The Liberality of the Government toward It. How the Government 
has been treated in Return. Inferior Coaches and Poor Animals, 
How Mr. Colfax was transported. A Band of Ute Indians. An Un- 
pleasant Ride with two Indians. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FROM BRIDGER'S PASS TO GREEN RIVER, 
The Western Slope. Warmer Weather. Change in Appearance of 
Country. Musquitoes. Returning Californians. Why they Return. 
Defunct Montana Gold Mining Company. Coal and Petroleum. 
Artemesian Plain. Bitter Creek. Profitable Hunting. California 
Horses. Snow-capped Mountains again. 46 



CONTENTS. xi 

CHAPTER VIII. 

PAGE 

FROM GREEN RIVER TO FORT BRIDGER. 
Green River. Can it be Navigated ? Not Fordable. Ferry and how 
Constructed. Ham's Fork. Traders. Black's Fork. Church Butte. 
Moss Agates. Fort Bridger. Its Location and Surroundings. 
Formerly Held by the Mormons. Game. Judge Carter. " Uncle 
Jack." His Habits. Fondness for Frontier Life. 51 



CHAPTER IX. 

MORE ABOUT FORT BRIDGER. 

Rich Land on the Reservation. Its Mineral Resources. Why it is not 
Settled. The Garrison of Fort Bridger. Galvanized Yankees. 
Demoralization of Troops. Dishonesty of Officers. Adventure 
in a Snow Storm. Accommodations at a Ranch. Severity of the 
Storm. Camped Out. Close Quarters. Daylight, and a Walk to the 
Fort. Its Difficulties. Wading Streams. Arrival at the Post. 
A Three Days' Ride considered a Trifle. Accommodations for a 
Night. Anothor Night in the Cabin of a Mountaineer. 60 



CHAPTER X. 

FROM FORT BRIDGER TO WANSHIP SETTLEMENT. 

Bridger's Butte. Fine Scenery. The " Muddies." Quaking Asp Hill. 
Bear River. Cache Cave. Echo Canon. Tall Bluffs. Mormon 
Defences. Mormon Shot. Conversation with a Teamster. Fresh 
Vegetables. The Echo of Bugle Sounds. Trout Fishing. Black 
Birds, Ravens, &c. Farms. Coalville. Mormon Meeting-House?/*. 
Photograph Gallery. 7 1 



CHAPTER XI. 

FROM WANSHIP TO SALT LAKE VALLEY. 

Wanship. Lager Beer. " Sisters." First visit to the House of a Polyga- 
mist. Difference in the Women. Silver Creek. Canon. Parley's 
Park. Why so named. Kimball's Hotel. Grazing Lands. Parley's 
Canon. Wild and Grand Scenery. More Trout Fishing. 80 



xii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 

SALT LAKE VALLEY AND THE CITY. ' 

First View of the Valley. Camp Douglas. The City. Twin Peaks or" 
the Wasach. Beautiful Landscape. Pest of Camp Douglas. Col. 
Johns. Warm Sulphur Springs. Baths. Location of Salt Lake City. 
Its Bulwarks. Character of its Buildings. Immigration. Presi- 
dent's Block. Fruit. Temple Square. The Temple. The Taberna- 
cle. " Bowery." Theatre. Hotels. Business Houses. Photograph 
Galleries. Neswspapers. 86 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE DEAD SEA OF AMERICA. 

My Compagnons de Voyage. Salt Lake. Black Rock. Density of the 
Water. Why it Remains Salt. Salt Works. Bath in the Lake. 
Floating upon the surface. Different Accounts of the Buoyancy of 
the Water. Drive Back to the City. Hot Springs. A Mistake. 
A Lake on the Top of the Mountains. A Gorgeous Sunset on Salt 
Lake. . 97 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE MORMON CHURCH. 



The Tendency to Abuse the Mormons. First Favorable Impressions. 
How they Change. Extravagant Accouuts. Early History of the 
Church. Joseph Smith its Founder. His Death. Brigham Young. 
Sidney Rigdon succeeds Smith. Brigham Deposes Him. Mimicry of 
the Martyr. Persecution drives the Saints to the Far West. The 
Pioneer Party locate Zion. The Hosts Emigrate. Their Hardships 
and Sufferings. Brigham's Ability as a Leader. Organization of the 
Territory. The State of Deseret. The Cause of the " Mormon 
War." Brigham declares Martial Law. March of Gen. Johnston 
to Utah. Settlement of the Difficulty. Diplomacy of Brigham. 
Advantages Gained by the Mormons. *o6 



CONTENTS. xiii 

PAGZ 

CHAPTER XV. 

DOCTRINES OF THE MORMON CHURCH. POLYGAMY. 

Articles of Faith. Doctrines modified from time to time, God's Mate- 
riality. The Materiality of the Holy Ghost. A Man imagines him- 
self Adam. Church Government. The Presidency. The Patriarch. 
The Apostles. "The Seventy." The High Priests. The Bishops. The 
High Council. Other Officials. Polygamy of Modern Introduction. 
Its Origin. Brigham publishes it. Cause of Dissention. Smith said 
to Authorize and also to Condemn Polygamy. Denounced by Promi- 
nent Saints as late as 1850. Forbidden in the Book of Mormon and 
of Doctrines and Covenants. The Polygamy Revelation. 115 



CHAPTER XVI. 

PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

Inconsistency known by the People. Object in Instituting Polygamy. 
Marriage essential to Woman's Happiness in Heaven. Inducements 
for Men to become Polygamists, Women enter into Polygamy 
from Pure Motives, No Proper Appreciation of Marriage Re- 
lations. Celestial Wives. Sealing for Eternity, Marrying in 
Polygamy. First Wife must be Consulted. A Man Wants to Marry 
a Family. He fails and seeks the Servant. Women counselled 
to Marry. Mormons Marry Other Men's Wives. Bishops negotiate 
for Wives and Husbands. Hurried Marriage. Wives self-support- 
ing. Women Resigned. Jealousy. Husbands cease to Respect 
their Wives. Wives reproach themselves for Marrying. Barren 
Women not respected. Indecency. 131 



CHAPTER XVII. 

POLYGAMY CONTINUED. 

Discontent in the Harem. Prophet's Lecture to Women. He offers to 
Release his Wives. His offer impracticable. Divorces. Easily 
Obtained. Women advised to get Divorced. Adultery. Immoral 
Influences of Polygamy. Soldiers taking Mormon Women home. 
Polygamy probably on the decline. More strongly advocated in 
consequence. Brigham urges it. Salt Lake Telegraph on the sub- 
ject. The Legislature memoralize for the Repeal of the Law 
Prohibiting Polygamy. Inconsistency of such Teaching. Extent of 



xiv CONTENTS. 

FAGS 

Polygamy. Danger. How Brigham talked to Mr. Colfax on the 
Subject. Duty of the Government. 145 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

WHERE THE MORMONS COME FROM AND HOW THEY 

REACH SALT LAKE. 

Their Missionaries Abroad. Statistics of Immigration. Nationalities of 
Immigrants. How Missionaries are Appointed. Good Missions 
Sought After. Bad ones regarded as Punishments. How Mis- 
sionaries are Supported. What constitutes Going without Purse or 
Scrip. How they are treated in England. Presidents now allowed 
to take one Wife Abroad. A Second Wife turns up in Liverpool 
and passes as a Sister. Harsh Words about a President. Where 
Meetings are held. The Advantages of Zion induce many to 
Unite with Them. Zion Equal to Canaan. Apparent Interest in 
Spiritual Welfare. God's Physical Kingdom. Duty of Saints to 
Build it up. Emigration Money. Separation of Families of Emi- 
grants. Fourteen Girls shipped without a protector. Emigrant 
Ships. Provision for the Voyage. Organization. A Drunken 
President. Slight Offense. Amusements. Land at New York. 
By rail to the Missouri River. No provision for Sick. How 
Teams are provided. Emigrants walk. Hardships. How the 
People are kept contented. Hand-Carts for Transporation. Arri- 
val in the City. , 159 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MORMON WORSHIP AND MORMON DIGNITARIES. 

Public Services in the Tabernacle. Mr. Cannon's Sermon. Brigham 
Young's Sermon. First Sermon of a Proselyte and his History. 
Brigham's Appreciation of Education. Sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper. Ward Meetings. Semi-annual Conferences. No Sabbath 
Schools. Dancing. Social Parties. Celebrations July 26. Dress. 
Schools. Appearance, &c. of Brigham Young. Heber C. Kimball. 
Daniel H. Wells. Other Officials. The People. Agriculture. 
Characteristics of the people, Amelia, the Last Wife. Danites. 
Porter Rockwell. 173 



CONTENTS. xv 

PAG« 

CHAPTER XX. 

CRIMES OF THE MORMONS AND HOW MORMONISM 

MAY BE ERADICATED. 

Mormons Intolerant. Mountain Meadow Massacre. Mormons Disguised 
as Indians. Evidence of Mormon Complicity. Bones of the Slain 
buried Years Afterwards. Other Murders. Impossibility of admin- 
istering Justice. Murder of Morris. Of Dr. Robinson. What 
holds together the Mormons. Brigham's Will supreme. Is Brig- 
ham an Impostor or Fanatic? His Death will terminate Mormon- 
ism. Enlightenment of the People needed. Dissentions. Influ- 
ences of a Gentile Population. Mutual Benefits to Church and Gov- 
ernment in Co-operation. Duties of the Church. Rev. Mr. 
McLeod. Gradual Abolition of Polygamy. 1 87 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE INDIANS OF THE PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 



Similarity in Habits. Localities of Different Tribes. Sioux. Their hos- 
tility. War with the Snakes. General appearance. Their Phys- 
ique. Squaws. Their Dress. Pappooses. Births. Infidelity of 
Squaws. Men and Boys good riders. Weapons. Scalps. Scalp 
Dance. Chieftainship. Medicine Man. How he Cures. Steam 
Baths. Reception. Smoking. Marriage. Polygamy. Robes and 
Skins. Their Dead. How Buried. How they define time. 
Signs. Diet. Powers of Endurance. Tortures. The Character 
of the Indian. Despicable in every way. Indian Council at Fort 
Laramie. Its Results. Interior Department temporizing with 
Indians. Gen. Sherman's actions. Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs. 203 



Life among the Mormons. 

CHAPTER I. 

FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH TO FORT KEARNEY. 

Fort Leavenworth was, in April last, the grand rendez- 
vous of troops of the regular army, who, as in former 
times, were to garrison posts on the frontier, whence they 
had been withdrawn in '6i to aid in suppressing the late 
great rebellion. From that point they were to proceed to 
the various forts North of the Arkansas, and as far West 
as Salt Lake City. 

Outfits for several commands, as large as the one I ac- 
• companied, were furnished at Leavenworth ; but so com- 
plete were the arrangements for meeting the demand, and 
so prompt the action in the different departments, that but 
little delay occurred, and, after camping only a few days in 
the vicinity, we struck tents and commenced our long 
Westward march. 

The location of Fort Leavenworth is doubtless familiar 
to the reader. It is in Kansas, on the south bank of the 
Missouri, about 500 miles above its mouth, and overlooks 
the thriving city of the same name. It is one of the oldest 
military stations of the West, and has for many years been 
the depot from which supplies have been furnished the 
various posts on the plains. 

It was my good fortune to accompany a detachment of 
the 1 8th U. S. Infantry, consisting of one battalion of 
eight companies, and recruits for two other battalions, 
numbering in all about 1300 men. 



2 FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH 

The whole was under the command of Major Van Voast, 
an experienced officer, long familiar with frontier life on the 
Pacific coast, and subordinate to him were a number of 
officers, belonging to the same regiment, who had proven 
their fitness for the positions they held by long and gallant 
services in the field with our Western armies. They were 
all strangers to me then ; but three months of intimate, 
and constant association, caused a warm mutual friendship 
to exist, which will remain among the most pleasant memo- 
ries of my army life. 

But I must not in this connection neglect to refer to the 
most pleasant feature of the journey we were then about to 
commence. The presence of six ladies in our com- 
pany, it is unnecessary to say, contributed largely to the 
enjoyment of the trip. Some of these ladies had cam- 
paigned with their husbands before, but the majority were 
then to experience life without the bounds of civilization 
for the first time. The latter class, however, — and among 
them were young ladies who had never been beyond the 
sound of a piano or a church bell, — appeared to enjoy the 
trip throughout more than those who were already familiar 
with the inconveniences incident to a journey of the kind. 
For our large command, with its attaches, on a long jour- 
ney, no insignificant amount of transportation was required, 
and thanks to the obliging quartermaster, at Leavenworth, 
Col. Potter, our supply and baggage train was ample and 
numbered over ioo six mule army wagons, besides six am- 
bulances, and the private conveyances of officers whose 
families accompanied them. There is something interesting 
connected with this train. The wagons that composed it 
had been sent overland the summer before from Washing- 
ton, where they had been collected from the army of the 
Potomac after the close of the war. It was a singular 
coincidence to have with us on the march the same 
wagons that had followed us in the Peninsular campaign in 
'61, two thousand miles distant. That such was the case 
regarding some of them, our Quartermaster assured me 
there could be no doubt, for he recognized on several, marks 



TO FORT KEARNEY. 3 

which he had placed there when acting in the same capacity 
in the 5th army corps, during the eventful campaign referred 
to. A still more remarkable coincidence was that of a 
driver having in his team a span of mules which he said 
were, most unquestionably, the identical mules he had 
driven from the positien our army held in front of Rich- 
mond to Harrison's Landing on the James River at the time 
of the retreat of Gen. McClellan in 1862. 

This brings to mind personal associations of my own 
with an esteemed friend whom I first met about the 
same eventful period, and who subsequently joined us on the 
march. In '62 we were associated in the army of the Po- 
tomac, in '64 in the city of New Orleans, in '65 in St. 
Louie, and in '66 we journeyed several hundred miles to- 
gether over the plains of the far West, destined to different and 
remote posts, possibly to meet again in our army career, 
possibly only in eternity. We parted warmer friends, after 
so many accidental, but pleasant, associations. The officer 
I refer to is Surgeon Alexander, long the popular and effi- 
cient Medical Director in the Crescent City. 

All things being ready for the march, on the 26th of 
April, while the weather was yet cool and pleasant, and 
before the fields were green with the grass of spring, our 
column may have been seen wending its way over the hills 
of Kansas in the direction of Ft. Kearney. For several 
days we did not get beyond the enclosed and cultivated 
farms, which in the absence of a regularly surveyed public 
road made our course much more tortuous than when trav- 
elling over the unsettled prairie beyond. It seemed at 
times as if the road passed around three sides of a farm, 
when there was nothing to interfere with its following the 
more direct fourth boundary line. But the roads were excel- 
lent, and we in no hurry. What difference did it make to 
us if our 1200 miles journey should be extended five miles 
by indirect roads? 

After passing to the West, and within sight of At- 
chison, we struck the great overland stage route, along 
which we marched many hundred miles. The sight 



4 FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH 

of a stage-coach twice daily, and the constant presence of 
telegraph poles, tended to relieve to some extent those 
inclined to loneliness. With me it caused frequent thoughts 
of loved ones far away, with whom such means could 
speedily communicate, but from whom I must necessarily, 
for a long time, be separated. From Atchison, Kansas, to 
California, there is daily a line of stages making the entire 
journey in sixteen days.* To conduct this great enterprise 
successfully and profitably, it is necessary that there should 
be frequent relays of horses, accordingly there are stations 
all along the line, separated 10 or 12 miles, where the 
horses are changed, and every 40 or 50 miles is a " Home 
Station," where the driver changes also, to return over the 
same road, so that each driver in a short time becomes 
familiar with every part of his route. At the Home Sta- 
tions passengers obtain their meals. 

The route is divided into Divisions, over each of which 
is a superintendent ; and at the terminus of each Division 
the passengers, baggage, and mails are transferred to other 
coaches. All the changes are made expeditiously, and but 
little delay occurs anywhere. Mr. Benjamin Holladay 
is the principal proprietor of the stage line, and is a man 
of remarkable energy and enterprise. I regret that my first 
favorable impressions of Mr. Holladay and his line did not 
continue. I will hereafter explain why I do not think 
him entitled to all the laudations which writers, who 
have accepted his favors, heap upon him. 

Along this part of the route, in addition to the Stage 
Stations, there are many " Ranches " for the accommoda- 
tion of emigraHts, and also, and more particularly, for the 
profit of the keepers. They are generally constructed of 
logs and very rudely built, but most of them contain a 
good assortment of the more essential articles required by 



* Since the above was written the extension of the Pacific Railroad, west- 
ward, along the Platte river, has made Omaha the eastern terminus of the Cal- 
ifornia overland route, instead of Atchison; and passengers already have the 
monotony of the journey broken by several hundred miles ride in the cars. 



TO FORT KEARNEY. 5 

the emigrant, as well as some he does not require. Canned 
fruits and vegetables are conspicuously displayed upon the 
shelves, making perhaps a greater show for the same cost 
than other articles the establishment contains, and generally 
no inconsiderable quantity of " Hostetter's Bitters'* — a 
form in which the emigrant may obtain very poor whiskey 
at a very high price — occupy prominent places upon the 
shelves also. In addition to Stations and Ranches there 
are also several trading towns or villages between Leaven- 
worth and Kearney. Seneca, about six days journey (as we 
travelled) from Leavenworth, is quite a thriving and enter- 
prising place. I found the cunning Yankee trader at Seneca 
as well as every where else where a store is kept on the 
plains, and paid for my dealing with one by being badly 
cheated in some cigars. 

The country over which we passed from Leavenworth 
to Kearney presents a beautiful, regularly undulating sur- 
face, and is watered at convenient distances for daily 
marches, by numerous streams. 

The rolling prairies of Kansas differ widely from the broad 
plains of Illinois. The reader who has only seen the latter level 
can form but a poor idea of the beauty and grandure of the 
former. One who has sailed over the ocean during a calm 
the day after a storm, and has observed the gentle elevations 
and depressions of its surface, without a ripple upon the wa- 
ter, and can imagine a vast extent of country, extending far 
away to the horizon all around, as smooth as the sea, and 
with the same regular undulations of its surface but magni- 
fied a thousand times, can form some idea of the vastness 
and beauty of the country over which we journeyed from 
Leavenworth to Kearney. 

The atmosphere is clear and rarifled, and objects can be 
seen a long distance. The mirage about the horizon adds 
increasing beauty to the scenery. When observing eleva- 
tion after elevation far away in the distance, until the last 
little hill seems to support the cloudy dome, we could see 
reflected on the sky the appearance of a beautiful silvery 
lake, with its islands and its trees. To one unaccustomed 



6 FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH 

to the scene, and not informed as to its true nature, the 
optical delusion is complete. Objects near the horizon 
with the sky as a back-ground appear of immense size — cows 
eight or ten miles distant look like elephants, and a David 
would seem to be more than a Goliath in stature. 

This vast uncultivated region is not only pleasing to the 
eye in viewing its topography, but possesses a fertility of 
soil unsurpassed, I should suppose, by any farming lands in 
the country. The slightest cultivation would cause it to 
yield to the husbandman the most luxurient crops of every 
product of the richest valleys of New York or Ohio, and 
we predict for Kansas, when the great highway — the Pa- 
cific Railroad — shall have been completed, and emigration 
poured into the State, an agricultural wealth equal to that 
of any other part of the Union. 

The country as I stated before, is not without water, but 
many clear and rapidly flowing streams are found in its fer- 
tile, and in some instances, cultivated valleys. The names 
of these streams are not very classic or poetic. We crossed 
the " Big Sandy," the " Little Sandy," the " Big Blue," 
"Bull Creek,"' and the " Big Muddy." But the" latter 
should not be mentioned in the same connection with the 
prairie streams of this countrv. It is not a stream at all, ex- 
cept after a rain, but a series of disgusting standing pools 
which are kept constantly stirred up to almost the consistency 
of butter-milk, for a mile on either side of the road, by 
thousands of animals, belonging to the passing trains, being 
driven into them to drink. Along this part of the route, 
only, is water scarce ; but here for 35 or 40 miles the " Big 
Muddy" affords the only water, except the small wells at the 
Stations. 

I must tell the reader something; of the incidents of our 

Cc 

journey, and not confine myself to a description of the country 
onlv. Such a trip as ours was certainly an enjoyable one 
and I enjoyed it in other ways than admiring the scenery. 
How incomparably more pleasant to travel, as we did, to 
being rushed over the road, night and day at break-neck 
speed, in one of Ben Holladay's coaches, be the comforts 



TO FORT KEARNEY. 7 

afforded in the latter all that the ingenuity of the great 
contractor could offer a Colfax and party. 

Our marches were from 1 8 to 20 miles a day ; starting at 
5 o'clock in the morning, and going into camp usually about 
noon. The remainder of the day was spent in such recrea- 
tions and amusements as the country afforded, and the taste 
of the indiuidual would lead him to indulge in. But to me 
the tvhole march was recreation and amusement. Not beino- 
required to accompany the column, I wandered off for miles 
in search of the better game of the country. Everywhere 
we found birds numerous. For prairie chickens we hunted 
away from the road : for ducks along the streams, and in 
the little pones to be found here and there ; for the English 
plover we sought out the marshy places, and there were the 
snipe also ; for the smaller birds — -prairie plover, and meadow 
larks it was not necessary to leave the road, but shoot 
them from the ambulances as we rode along. Those of us 
fond of bird-shooting found abundance of such sport, and 
our tables were daily s*upplied with at least some luxuries 
which would be highly relished even in New Orleans where 
there is always so much to gratify the palate. I remember 
on one occasion bringing down with the two loads of my 
gun, nine large English plovers — more than a mess for all the 
ladies in camp. In the afternoon it was no uncommon 
thing to catch within a hundred yards of our camp (for we 
always camped on a stream), a good mess of small pan-fish 
for our early breakfast the next morning. So with plenty of 
prairie chickens, ducks, plover, fish, potatoes, and canned 
vegetables, in variety, there was but little danger of scurvy 
to be apprehended among those who could indulge in such 
luxuries. 

The evenings were spent in the tents playing chess or 
cards, or in reading or conversation, according to the 
inclination of the party. But I early sought the embrace of 
Morpheus to be willing to rise at the sound of reveille in the 
morning, which usually was heard at 3J or 4 o'clock. 
Think of the trial, in this way imposed upon an individual, 
who, up to the commencement of the march, indulged in the 



8 FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH &c. 

bad habit of lying in bed in the morning until called to break- 
fast a 8 J or 9 o'clock, I early adapted myself to the new 
state of things however, and soon failed to regard it a 
hardship to rise with the early bird. 

No danger was to be apprehended from hostile Indians, 
south of Fort Kearney, and the only red-skins now in that 
vicinity are a small band of the Ottoe tribe, who have a 
settlement on a government reservation a few miles east of 
the stage road on the Big Blue. 

We remained over Sabbath in camp near their village, 
and many of the officers availed themselves of the oppor- 
tunity of observing their domestic life, and visited their 
wigwams, but I was not among the number, preferring to 
wait until we penetrated further into the Indian country, 
before studying the habits of the noble (?) Red Man. I 
saw enough of the Ottoes, however, to satisfy me that they 
were a set of begging, thieving, filthy, disgusting savages. 
Though within a short distance of the white settlements 
they had adopted but few of the customs of the white man 
which added to their comfort, or advancement in civiliza- 
tion, but had acquired with readiness his vices. They 
were eager for whiskey, and I observed them gambling at 
cards with the soldiers when unable to speak a word of 
English. 

They carried away the ofFal of our slaughtered cattle, 
and doubtless enjoyed their dinner of it, as one of unusual 
richness. And this occurred in a country where game is 
plenty, and the fertile soil yields abundantly of everything 
cultivated. 

Sixteen marches brought us to Fort Kearney. As we 
approached the place, along *he Platte River, it could be 
distinctly seen when io or 12 miles away, and in the 
mirage, its building loomed up as the tall towers of an 
ancient castle. 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM FORT KEARNEY TO FORT MACPHERSON. 

We reached Fort Kearney on the 13th of May. It is 
one of the oldest posts on the plains, and is situated on the 
South side of the Platte River, about 200 miles from its 
mouth. The Platte possesses many of the features of the 
Missouri, of which it is an important tributary, but is an 
unnavigable stream, though through its bed flows an 
immense body of water. It is in places from a mile to a 
mile and a half in width, and its current as rapid as that of 
the great stream into which it empties. 

The term " Forts," as applied to military posts on the 
frontier, has caused a very general misconception of their 
real character. It is the popular opinion, where it has not 
been corrected, that these forts are works of masonry, or at 
least extensive earth-works, after the style of our permanent 
fortifications in the States, or the more elaborate temporary 
works constructed so extensively in some localities, during 
the late war. But such is not the case. Fort Kearney, 
like nearly all the posts I have visited, is without any work 
of defense — not even a stockade. It consists simply of a 
number of two story frame buildings, arranged in the usual 
way around a parade ground, which is the centre of the 
post, furnishing quarters for the officers and men. There 
are also additional buildings as store-houses, stables, sutler's 
stores, &c. There are posts, however, in more dangerous 
localities, where the quarters are surrounded by a stockade, 
and others where slight earth-works exist, but such are ex- 
ceptions to the rule. 



io FROM FORT KEARNEY. 

Fort Kearney, as I said before is one of the oldest posts 
on the plains, and the effects of time are plainly visible on 
the buildings, many of which are quite dilapidated, and 
some so tottering and frail that huge props extending to the 
eves are necessary to prevent the high winds, prevailing 
there, from levelling them to the ground. 

In addition to the wooden structures around the parade, 
there are a number of one-story buildings made of turf. 
These are not the adobe houses of which the reader has 
doubtless heard, and of which I will give a description at 
some other time, when we reach a locality where they are 
found. The turf houses are structures made by piling 
fresh sods one upon another in the manner bricks are 
placed in a wall, with a little soft mud intervening to fill up 
the interstices. The walls are made from two to three feet 
thick, and these houses are said to be the most comfortable 
at the post — warm in winter and cool in summer ; but for 
elegance they will hardly compare with some in the 
Garden District of New Orleans. 

At Kearney we replenished our stock of subsistance 
stores, and received a large accession to our numbers. 
Here Col. Carrington, who commands the 1 8th infantry, 
was waiting with another battalion for us to join him, and 
when we did so he commanded the whole. Major Van- 
Voast, who only temporarily commanded the detachment 
from Leavenworth, relinquished his position to Brevet 
Lieut. Col. Lewis, who joined us there, and the former 
became a guest, as it were, on his way to Fort Laramie, 
where he now commands. Col. Lewis I found to be in 
every way worthy to succeed the efficient officer he re- 
lieved. It was my good fortune to serve under him, and I 
shall endeavor at some other time to refer to my apprecia- 
tion of his abilities as an officer, and his worth as a 
gentleman and friend. In connection with the other 
additions to our party, I must not here neglect to mention 
the ladies. I referred to them last, when mentioning the 
party that left Leavenworth, and now, again, they are brought 
in as if not entitled to the first notice. I beg their pardon. 



TO FORT MACPHERSON. n 

They deserve to be prominent in mv memory whenever 
writing about the command. I was about to say that three 
additions were made to the little circle of lady associates, 
and among; them Mrs. Carrington, the wife of the Colonel, 
and the good Mrs. Dr. Horton, whose acquaintance I made 
in New Orleans nearly two years ago. How delightful to 
meet friends under such circumstances ! 

After a halt of a week we cheerfully resumed our jour- 
ney, every one being weary of the inactive camp-life, and 
anxious to lessen the distance between us and our destina- 
tion daily. At Fort Kearney the three principal routes 
from the East — from Leavenworth, Nebraska Citv, and 
Omaha — unite to torm the great overland highway for emi- 
grants along the Platte. Here we saw more pilgrims on 
their westward journey than at any previous time. Emi- 
grants here are universally called " pilgrims," and camping 
as they do only for a night, and then off again on their 
journey, makes the term not inappropriate, but to me sug- 
gesting loneliness and solitude. Notwithstanding a recent 
order of Gen. Pope, requiring at least twenty wagons to 
travel together, and thirty armed men, for defence against 
the Indians, it was no uncommon thing for two or three 
wagons only to compose a u train," and in them helpless 
women and children, 

Within the last two or three years many such trains have 
been attacked and destroyed by the Indians, — the men killed 
and scalped, and the women made to suffer worse than 
death, and held as hostages for which large ransoms have 
been required. To prevent such massacres and outrages, 
the order forbidding small trains to go into the Indian 
country was issued. How astonishing it is that emigrants 
with all the facts before them, should seek to evade an 
order which contemplates only their own protection ; and 
how especially astonishing, that an emigrant should incur 
all this risk with a helpless family. But thev do it con- 
stantly. Trains are organized at the various military posts, 
but before thev have been out two davs thev divide up into 
small parties, until they are stopped at the next post, to re- 
organize. 



12 FROM FORT KEARNEY 

I was surprised to see so many women among the emi- 
grants, and to see how easily they adapted themselves to 
the hardships required in a journey across the plains. As 
a rule they travel without tents, sleep in and under their 
wagons without removing their clothes, cook their bacon 
and flour in a frying pan, or sometimes in a dutch oven 
over a fire of " buffalo chips;" but they seem to enjoy 
vigorous health, and appear contented and happy. One of 
the best drivers of a four horse wagon I observed on the 
plains was a woman. 

In addition to the trains going West, we met quite a 
number belonging to freighters travelling in an opposite 
direction. They had wintered beyond the mountains, and 
were now making their usual summer trip. To curtail 
drivers as well as rest the oxen, several wagons, for they 
were empty, were tied one behind the other, and the oxen 
of the first drew them all, while those thus rendered 
supernumary were driven in herds along with the train. 

Throughout our march, but particularly along this part 
of the route, where the travel is so extensive, the road is 
strewn with the remains of animals who have perished by 
the way. From the recently dead beast, to the whitened 
bones of those that had died long ago, their remains could 
be seen almost constantly. Interspersed with the bones of 
the cattle were numerous buffalo skulls, unmistakeable traces 
of the buffalo hunter in times past. These skulls and the 
old buffalo-trails made when they sought the Platte for 
water, or to cross in their yearly northern migration, were 
the only indications we had that the animal ever frequented 
the valley. At one time the buffalo were as numerous in 
this section of the country as anywhere on the plains. I 
was informed by an officer who was stationed at Fort 
Kearney, in 1853 that they were so numerous in that vicin- 
ity during the summer of that year, as to require on one 
occasion a piece of artillery to drive large herds from the 
immediate vicinity of the fort, as there was danger of them 
being stampeded and rushing through the post, endangering 
life and property. The old order book of that time is still 



TO FORT McPHERSON. 13 

at the Fort, and corroborates the statement of the officer. 

The only wild quadruped game now to be found in the 
vicinity is the antelope. Their fleetness and timidity, how- 
ever, prevented us from securing any there,but subse- 
quently, along another part of our journey, quite a number 
were shot, as I shall hereafter mention. 

The country in the valley of the Platte bore an entirely 
different aspect from that lying South of it, which we have 
already described. Here the surface was as level as around 
New-Orleans, and as far as the eye could reach up and 
down the river not the least irregularity could be observed 
between the Bluffs on the South, and the river on the 
North. It is to that portion of the valley contiguous to 
Kearnev, that I refer ; further West it assumes a some- 
what undulating surface. Though different in appearance 
from the country I admired so much, and referred to in my 
first letter, this possessed a beauty of scenery in compari- 
son not to be despised. The Platte river is filled with 
islands,ranginginsize from a half acre,or less of surface,toone 
60 miles long ; and upon them are trees, and many of the 
smaller ones are covered with an undergrowth of shrubbery, 
while on the main land not a bush or a tree is to be seen. 
But here the prairie grass was just assuming its richest 
green, and the lovely little wild prairie-flowers represented 
vegetation in a form quite as attractive as on the verdant 
islands. In places, the beautiful purple and white blos- 
soms covered the ground so thickly as to almost hide the 
young grass ; and here and there grew the cactus. 

To the South lay the sand buttes,as they are called, which in- 
creased in heighth, and became more abrupt as we proceeded 
Westward. These and similar ones far away on the North 
of the river where doubtless the ba^ks of an immense stream 
which covered this whole valley not many centuries ago. 
From the highest of these buttes a magnificent view of the 
valley and river could be had, and I availed myself of the 
opportunity of seeing the country from one of them. I 
found a few friends to accompany me, and arming with car- 
bines and pistols (for this had been a favorite locality for In- 



i 4 FROM FORT KEARNEY 

dian depredations the year before) we started for the hills, 
which looked to be about a mile away; but the distance on 
the plains is very deceptive, and it required a ride of three 
or four miles before we reached their summit. The ascent, 
as we approached, looked so gentle as to permit of riding up 
at a canter, but we found it so steep upon approaching nearer, 
as to render it difficult even to lead our animals to the top ; 
but we reached it, and remained for an hour in admiration of 
the magnificent view which was there afforded. For twen- 
ty miles either way the broad surface of the Platte, dotted 
with its islands of verdure, could be seen in all its windings; 
and, between it and the range of hills, the broad valley cov- 
ered with the new prairie grass in all its richness. Far away 
on the banks of the stream were the white tents of our camp, 
which looked like a bed of mushrooms, and the herd of ani- 
mals grazing nearer to the foot of the hills appeared like a 
pack of hunter's hounds. South of us was a succession of 
hills and ravines — the former of sand and without vegetation; 
the latter covered with long grass looking greener because 
of the contrast with the barren hills surrounding them. The 
sight was altogether one of the grandest I had then ever 
beheld, but I subsequently found that it was only initiative to 
greater grandeur and beauty which awaited me in the moun- 
tains further west. The sand buttes of the Platte were as 
the Rocky Mountains in miniature. 

Along this valley,' only a year ago, the Indians had per- 
petrated the most barbarous murders, as well as destroyed a 
large amount of property. The country is a peculiarly 
adapted for their depredations. The hills in some places 
are but little removed from the river, affording the savages 
a most excellent place for concealment. From these hills 
they watched for trains incapable of resisting on attack, and 
sallied forth upon the defenceless emigrant, with whom re- 
treat was impossible because of the river on the other side, 
and he fell an easy victim to his brutal foe. 

Not only were trains attacked, ranches pillaged and de- 
stroyed, but the occupants murdered. In many instances 
the latter abandoned their property, and sought safety at the 



TO FORT McPHERSON. ? 5 

military posts. We passed the ruins of a large ranche where 
$20,000 worth of goods had been destroyed last July, the 
owner having left the premises only a day or two before the 
savages were upon them. At Plum Creek, our second camp 
from Kearny, were a large number of graves of settlers who 
were murdered and scalped at the time I referred to. All 
along the road graves of emigrants were seen daily, generally 
solitarv, but sometimes three or four together, and almost 
invariably we found inscribed upon a rough head-board the 
name of the individual buried there, and " killed by the In- 
dians July — , 1865." 

I will defer any comments upon these barbarities for a 
future letter, in which I propose to write more about the 
Indians of the plains than space would allow to be included 
in this. Notwithstanding the destruction of life and prop- 
erty along the Platte within so recent a period, the ranches 
are as numerous this season, if not more numerous than be- 
fore. The great incentive men have for conducting these 
establishments is the profit arising from their sales, and when 
we consider the risk incurred, and the discomforts to which the 
keepers are subjected, the large profits asked on the goods 
seemed not so unreasonable after all. 

Most of the ranches, in dangerous localities are construct- 
ed with a view to defence against the Indians. The houses and 
stables have loop holes from which the occupants may fire 
upon an attacking party, and in some large corrals for 
the cattle surrounded by a wall of sods connected with 
the ranches, afforded a still further protection against 
the treacherous enemies of the white man. 

In this locality nearly all the ranches are built of turf, like 
the buildings at Fort Kearney, which I have described. 
In many instances the roofs are of the same material, and 
constructed by placing thatch upon a few timbers and upon 
this is laid the sods. Such roofs in Louisiana, during the 
wet season, would not be considered very desirable, but 
out here where but little rain falls they answer the purpose 
very well. The scarcity of timber, and the high price it 
commands, prevents it from entering into the construction 



16 FROM FORT McPHERSON. 

of ranches excep to a very limited extent, and generally not 
even for floors. 

Six marches from Kearney took us to Cottonwood Springs, 
where Fort McPherson is located. We reached that point 
on the 24th of May. 



CHAPTER III. 

FROM FORT MCPHERSON TO FORT SEDGWICK. 

Fort McPherson, so called after the able and gallant 
general who was killed in Georgia in 1864, was built about 
the time of the death of the distinguished officer whose 
name it bears. It presents a neat compact appearance, and 
is one of the few military posts surrounded by a stockade. 
Its buildings are one-story log structures, rather rustic in ap- 
pearance, but I considered it as altogether a more desirable 
post than its next easterly and more venerable neighbor, 
Fort Kearney. 

Fort McPherson is. located on a small stream running 
into the Platte, familiar to the western traveller as Cotton 
Wood Springs. It is about one hundred miles distant from 
Fort Kearney, and is regarded as a post .of considerable mil- 
itary importance, being in a country where frequent Indian 
depredations have been committed. There were six com- 
panies, four of Infantry, and two of Cavalry garrisoning 
the post when we passed. 

Having no business there, the command marched by 
without even a halt, rather to the disappointment of the 
sutler, I have no doubt. 

While on this day's march, in the vicinity of the Fort, 
we lost one of our number — a citizen employed as clerk 



TO FORT SEDGWICK. 17 

for the Quartermaster, which was the only death that oc- 
curred during our three months' journey, save several from 
an accident to which I shall hereafter refer. We buried 
the poor man at our next camping ground, and the plain 
cedar head-board of his grave now stands, another sad spec- 
tacle to the passing emigrant. His wife and several child- 
ren continued a mournful journey along with us to Salt 
Lake City, whither the husband and father was going to 
reside. 

The Platte river is formed by the confluence of two 
streams — the North and South Platte, which takes place a 
few miles west of the mouth of Cottonwood. Our jour- 
ney then lay along the South Platte. Some change in char- 
acter of the country and scenery, was to be observed. 
The disappearance of the range of hills on the south, and 
the valley merging into the broad prairie, gave it rather a 
different aspect. About ten miles west of Fort McPherson 
is Jack Morrow's Ranche, one of the largest on the plains. 

It was the latter part of May when we journeyed along 
the Platte. The new grass which had not appeared on the 
prairies of Kansas, had here sufficiently matured to afford 
excellent pasturage for our animals. It was desirable that 
the column should make an early start, and it moved from 
Leavenworth before there was grass on the prairies for the 
mules. They had been fed on hay, purchased at the ranches 
along the route, and in some instances at enormously high 
prices ; but here there was no need of hay, and as soon as 
the train was parked, the mules were all turned out to 
graze. This was my first march with a mule-train, and I 
observed much in the habits of that animal that surprised 
me. In the first place, I was surprised to see how easily a 
large herd of them can be controlled. Three or four 
herders would have no difficulty in keeping together as 
many- hundred mules. They were allowed to graze only 
during the day, and at night when they were to be tied up 
to their wagons, they were brought in without the least dif- 
ficulty. The wagon-master would take out a little grey 
horse, fasten a bell to his neck, and start from the herd 



18 FROM FORT McPHERSON 

towards camp, when every mule would stop grazing, and 
follow on. As they approached the wagons, each would 
select his own and go to it, to be haltered and fed for the 
night. After observing this and other things in their hab- 
its, I came to the conclusion that the mule is a much slan- 
dered animal, and will never refer to him again as an ex- 
ample of stupidity. He fully bore out his reputation for ob- 
stinacv, however. 

Ranches continued as numerous along the Platte as they 
Were south of Kearney. In referring to these establish- 
ments in my first letter, I neglected to mention a very im- 
portant item in their business, viz., the sale of grain and 
hay to emigrants, during the season when animals cannot 
subsist on the grass. The grain is brought from the Mis- 
souri river, and commands a very high price, but the hay is 
the wild grass that grows on the prairie, which is cut in the 
summer, and stacked up until there is a demand for it. 

The most extensive ranch or trading post I have seen 
on the plains is one conducted by a Frenchman named 
Beauvais. It is on the South Platte where the old Califor- 
nia road crosses that stream, and is known as the " Califor- 
nia Crossing. " Beauvais has accumulated a large fortune 
since he started this ranch. His principal profits are from 
his advantageous trading; with the Indians. This he does 
on a very large scale, and it is the common talk on the 
plains that the savages obtain from him arms and ammuni- 
tion with which emigrants are murdered, in exchange for 
robes and skins. He may be innocent of the charge, but 
it is a singular fact that the Indians have never disturbed 
Monsieur Beauvais' establishment, when almost every other 
ranch in that part of the country has been destroyed, at 
some time, and there has always been more plunder to be 
had at the California Crossing than at any of the ranches 
destroyed. 

Agricultural pursuits are entirely neglected by the set- 
tlers in the Platte Valley, though the soil and climate are 
such in my opinion, as would produce the cereals if not 
more delicate vegetable growths. In almost every respect 



TO FORT SEDGWICK. 19 

it has the advantage of New England as an agricultural 
country. The great draw-backs are the dryness of the 
summer months, and the high winds that prevail. The 
former could be overcome by irrigation as in Salt Lake Val- 
ley. After seeing what has been accomplished there by 
this means I shall not hereafter consider the absence of rain 
as a serious objection to a country where irrigation can be 
resorted to. No difficulty would attend its adoption along 
the Platte, and then the moisture necessary for vegetable 
life would be more certainlv afforded than is done by the 
rains in the most favored agricultural districts. 

The absence of timber is another draw-back. Not a 
tree grows upon the banks of the Platte, and those on the 
islands are entirely inadequate to the demand that would 
arise for wood in a settled countrv. In the vicinity of Cotton 
Wood Springs some cedar and cotton wood grow, back in 
the bluffs, but with this exception the entire country from 
Kearney to Sedgwick is entirely without timber. 

Before starting from Leavenworth I provided myself with 
a mosquito bar as an important article in my out-fit, and in 
making up another for a similar trip I shall be as careful to add 
a ladies' tissue veil. Mosquitoes are very annoying insects ; 
but I think the little buffalo gnats are, I was going to say 
infinitelv more so. To keep them off the face and neck is 
what the veil would be used for. During two or three 
marches along the Platte after a rain, these gnats proved ex- 
ceedingly annoying. They are so small, that their presence 
on the skin is not detected until the irritation of their bite 
makes it known. Their favorite locality seemed to be on 
the neck and behind the ears, and so thick would they col- 
lect, that after their bite not a particle of the skin of these 
parts would be free from the swelling and inflammation. 

While on the march from McPherson to Sedgwick one of 
the officers of our battallion very narrowly escaped death 
at the hands *of a soldier belonging to another command. 
The man had straggled, and was indulging rather freely in 
Hostetter's Bitters in a ranch by the roadside, when the rear- 
guard came up, and he was ordered by the officer in com- 



20 FROM FORT McPHERSON 

mand to go forward. Some hesitation and insubordination 
occurred on the part of the soldier, when he was struck 
with the side of the officer's sword. He then rode forward, 
borrowed a musket (as he was unarmed) u to shoot an antel- 
ope" as he represented, loaded it and fell back again. When 
opposite our command he thought he recognized Lieutenant 
Gill as the man who struck him, and going up to that 
officer accused him of doing so, at the same time cocking 
his musket, with the muzzle within three feet of the breast of 
the officer, he pulled the trigger and exploded the cap ; but for- 
tunately did not discharge the piece. The man was immediately 
arrested, and his musket examined, which was found to be 
loaded, and the explosion of another cap sent the ball into 
the ground. The scoundrel was put in irons to be tried by 
a Court-Martial, at the next post, but managed to make his 
escape the following night. 

A march of one hundred miles Drought us to JuiesDurg, 
a place destined to be of much importance as a trading post, 
though at present it consists of not over a half dozen houses 
of all kinds. In 1864, the first settlement by this name 
was entirely destroyed by the Indians, and with it a consi- 
derable quantity of stores, including a large stock of grain 
belonging to the overland stage company. But the settlers 
have not been discouraged, and are now rebuilding the city(?), 
with apparently no apprehensions of a repetition of Indian 
outrages. Their houses are of a more substantial charac- 
ter, and are constructed at a greater expense than any others 
on the plains. Most of them are built of lumber brought 
from Denver, a distance of 200 miles, though there are 
some of the Mexican adobe structure. This is a Spanish 
word, and on the plains is unusually pronounced as if spelled 
dohy. The adobe brick consists of a mixture of clay and 
sand, moulded in a way, and of a shape similar to our brick 
in the East, but of a larger size, and are dried in the sun 
only. It answers well as a substitute for' the ordinary 
building brick when it is impracticable to obtain te latter. 
A soft mud of the same material is used as mortar, and a 
house so constructed with its walls smoothly plastered over 



TO FORT SEDGWICK. 21 

makes both a neat and comfortable residence in a dry 
climate. 

Near Julesburg the great overland emigrant route 
divides. One branch of it crosses the river, and going by- 
way of Fort Laramie, through the South Pass of the Rocky 
Mountains, continues on to the Pacific; while the other 
follows the South Platte to Denver, and thence by a 
northerly course enters Bridger's Pass, and unites again with 
the former about 40 miles east of Fort Bridger. The 
Denver route is the one taken by the overland mail 
coaches. 

Where this division occurs, Fort Sedgwick is located. 
This is considered as a post of even more importance than 
Fort McPherson, and has been more recently established. 
After the destruction of Julesburg by the Indians in '64, 
the Government sent troops to this point for greater security 
to emigration, as well as for the protection of the mail route. 
These troops erected temporary quarters for the winter on 
a site, not selected with a view to its permanency as a 
military post. 

But as Boston was built along its cow-paths for conven- 
ience, so these temporary quarters were added to and 
enlarged, and finally the new garrison of Fort Sedgwick is 
being built there. The officer who first camped on this 
spot, probably had no more idea of its being the nucleus of 
a large and important post, than had the early settlers along 
the cow -paths of that locality becoming the "Hub of the 
Universe." Fort Sedgwick is built upon a slightly elevated 
piece of land, and will present a very pretty appearance, 
after the completion of the quarters, and the removal of 
several unsightly structures which can then be dispensed 
with. This is one of the most expensive military stations 
on the plains. For example, the Government paid for all 
the wood used there last winter, (and soldiers and officers 
used their full "allowance, for it is a cold and bleak situation), 
one hundred and fourteen dollars a cord ; and a necessity 
occurred for the Commissary to buy potatoes on the spot, 
for which he paid about $9 a bushel. 



/ 



22 FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH 

Here we made our next halt for a few days, and enjoyed 
much a short respite from daily marches. Contemplating 
this halt, the soldiers had made preparation for quite a 
novel exhibition in such a locality, and under such circum- 
stances. A number of good singers and mimics had been 
practising for several days as Ethopian minstrels, and with 
the permission of the commanding officer gave a grand 
concert on the second night in camp. They were allowed 
the use of two large hospital tents, and every facility 
afforded them for making their entertainment as successful 
as possible. Nearly all the officers in our command, as 
well as those at the garrison with their families attended 
the performance, which I was told (for I was not present) 
was exceedingly creditab e, and conducted with more pro- 
priety than sometimes attend similar demonstrations in our 
large cities. Such performances are now becoming quite 
popular at many posts on the frontier. 

Here we parted with the first detachment that left our 
command. Two companies left for Fort Wardwell, 
which is located near Denver, one remained at Fort Sedg- 
wick, and the remainder crossed the river for stations 
further north and west. 

The melting of snow in the mountains causes the streams 
to be much swollen at this season, and apprehensions had 
been felt by the Col.- of the regiment that he would be 
unable to ford the river with his command. Accordingly 
he had taken the precaution, before leaving Kearney, to 
order the construction of a large ferry-boat, which was com- 
pleted when we arrived ; but the ferry was yet an experi- 
ment, and proved to be as unsuccessful as was Robinson 
Crusoe's first effort at navigation. The boat was launched, 
however, without difficulty ; but when it got into the 
water it proved to be entirely too large to be managed in 
the swift current, and too heavy to float in the shallow 
water on the bars in the stream. The ferry, therefore, 
was a failure, and was abandoned. 

There we were, with a wide and rapid stream in front of 
us — formidable looking, and too deep, it was supposed, to 



to fort Mcpherson. 23 

be forded. Various conjectures were made, as to what 
should be done, when Major Norris of the 2d Cavalry 
came up with two companies of his regiment to cross the 
river also, he being; en route for Fort Laramie. The 
Major has been marching over the plains, and crossing 
streams for about half his life, and is not to be discouraged 
by trifles. He was familiar with the Platte, and as soon 
as he came up said it was fordable. Col. Carrington 
disagreed with the Major, but as he was not under the 
Col's command, he insisted on attempting to cross his 
train. Giving u Pigeon " (his favorite horse) to his First 
Sergeant, the Major directed him to go into the river and 
find the be t fording place, which was done immediately, 
when the wagons followed, and then the men. Profiting 
by the example, the next day the Infantry and their train 
crossed also without accident or the loss of a dollar's 
worth of property, public or private. The rapiJ stream 
proved to be only a bug-bear ; and the Major by his bold 
example, saved us an additional march of 200 miles, by 
way of Denver, which was seriously talked about when 
he arrived. 

It was cold weather for fording streams. Early the fol- 
lowing morning the thermometer indicated 33 , and two 
days thereafter I had equally reliable evidence of a still lower 
temperature. Upon rising on the 6th of June I found ice 
an eighth of an inch thick on the water in a bowl in mv tent 
awaiting my morning ablution. Our marches still com- 
menced at an early hour, and about this time I often found 
it necessary for comfort to abandon my horse and walk 
briskly for an hour or two with my overcoat on. And this- 
occurred in a latitude less than a degree North of that 
of St. Louis, and at no great elevation. I often thought 
when shivering with cold, of my sensations in New Or- 
leans at the same season and at the same hour of the 
morning when the sea breeze had not sprung up to make 
the heat tolerable, and I concluded that I would rather shiv- 
er in the pure, dry, cold, invigorating atmosphere of the 
Northwest, than sweat and swelter in the hot, humid ener- 



24 ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 

vating climate of the beautiful Crescent City in the month 
of June. 

Safely across the river the entire command commenced 
its westward march along Lodge Pole Creek, and two days 
thereafter more than half the column destined to Fort Lar- 
amie and posts North of it separated. 

The night before this occurred all the officers, who were 
to continue the westward route, collected at the quarters of 
Col. Carrington to take leave of him and his estimable 
lady. Sad memories are connected with that little assem- 
blage. Capt. Brown, who was then quartermaster of one 
of the batallions was the most jovial, and best contented man 
as to his destination in the company. He cracked jokes 
about being scalped, and seemed to fear such a fate less than 
any one present ; but alas ! he was first to fall by the hands 
of the Indian he so little feared. He was one of the victims 
of the horrid massacre near Fort Phil Kearny last Decem- 
ber. 

Our company of ladies was reduced proportionately with 
the command. Three left us at Sedgwick, three more on 
the occasion just alluded to, and three continued on towards 
the City of the Saints. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 



Lodge Pole Creek is a stream rising in the" Black Hills" 
and running in an easterly direction to the South Platte, into 
which it empties, in the vicinity of Julesburg. Near its 
source is an extensive growth of straight, slender trees, which 
are used by the Indians in the construction of the lodges ; 
hence the name of the creek. 

An Indian Lodge consists of a conical frame-work of 



ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 25 

small poles tied together at the apex, over which is placed a 
covering of tanned skins, sewed together in a shape and of 
a size to make a smooth surface. A lodge so constructed 
has the appearance of Sibley tents, with the ends of the 
poles projecting from the top. The tent I refer to is con- 
structed upon a precisely similar principle, but with a centre 
pole as a substitute for those used in the lodges. The In- 
dian builds his fire in the centre of his lodge,.and the smoke 
escapes through the top,while the tents have the improvement 
of a stove, generally, though I have seen fires built in them 
as in Indian lodges. 

To the Aborigines, then, we are indebted for the princi- 
ple upon which one of our most extensively used tents is 
made. 

The course of Lodge Pole Creek is through a valley, the 
sides of which gently ascend to the level of the extended 
prairie, both North and South. The valley abounds in rich 
nutritious grass, and has a soil, which at some period, will 
doubtless yield abundantly of many of the staple agricultural 
products of our country. This valley is the natural 
route for the Pacific Railroad, after leaving South Platte 
River ; but whether or not local influence will prevail, and 
take it over some other, time only will determine. The ex- 
pense attending its construction here would be very trifling 
compared with that of building it by the way of Denver , but 
the influence of Colorado will probably take it to that city.* 
Should it fail, then another Denver, more prosperous than 
the present, will spring up as by magic at some point in this 
valley. 

Lodge Pole Creek possesses many peculiarities, and not 
least among them is its entire disappearance, for miles, in 
some places. This strange phenomenon is not owing to a 



* Since this was written the commissioners of the Pacific Railroad have deter- 
mined that the road shall be built along Lodge Pole Creee, and enter the Black 
Hills at a pass about 20 miles south of Cheyenne Pass, down which the creek 
flows. As the road can be constructed along this valley as rapidly as it has 
been along the Platte the probability is that it will be completed throngh the 
Black Hills by the spring or summer of 1868. 



26 ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 

subterranean passage, but is accounted for in the character 
of the soil which forms the bed of the stream. Where this 
disappearance takes plaee, it is of a coarse sand extending 
to a considerable depth, and as the water enters the sandy 
soil it sinks below the surface, and percolates through 
it until the character of the bed changes again, when the 
stream appears on the surface as before. Where it is hid- 
den there is generally a dry sandy place above it, and by 
digging into this a foot below the surface the water can be 
seen pursuing its course towards the visible stream below. 
The course of the occasional disappearance of the creek 
operates also in producing great variation in its size. At 
one place it may be seen a narrow, sluggish stream, and a 
mile or two above, when passing over a bed of clay, it as- 
sumes a large size with a brisk current. I said this occa- 
sional disappearance of the stream was a peculiarity of 
Lodge Pole Creek ; but I have been informed that such is a 
characteristic of the majority of the streams west of the Rocky 
Mountains. It was a novelty to me, and I have not visited 
the country where this is common. Along this creek,, 
which " for short" is called " Pole Creek," I saw for the 
first time the ingeniously constructed beaver dams. In the 
abscence of large timber they are made of twigs placed ver- 
tically, with one end imbedded in the bottom of the stream, 
and other twigs placed transwisely, and against the sort of 
net work thus formed, a thick layer of earth is piled so as 
to offer a sufficient resistance to the greatest pressure of wa- 
ter that a rise in the stream may bring against it. Above 
the dams they construct their houses. Some are built up 
from the bottom of the stream, in the middle of it, and rounded 
off like a dome just above the surface of the water; but here 
they are made, principally, by burrowing into the banks 
with the dome-like top on the main land, instead of forming 
an island. The entrance to both classes are under water. 
The Beaver is exceedingly shy, and while I have seen hun- 
dreds of dams and houses, and hundreds more of their skins 
after they have been dressed by the Indians, I have not yet 
seen one of the animals. 



ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 27 

The antelope, which appeared only occasionally along the 
Platte, were here to be seen in great numbers, bounding 
over the hills as the column marched along. They were 
very timid, however, and to hunt them successfully, requir- 
ed a greater degree of labor and patience than I was dispos- 
ed to bestow upon the sport. The more experienced hunt- 
ers among the soldiers, however, secured a large number of 
them in this valley and on the hills bordering it. We found 
a roast of tender antelope meat not an undesireable substi- 
tute for beef occasionally, and I relished very much this, to 
me, new diet. 

The antelope is a neat, gracefully formed animal, resem- 
bling much the deer, with perhaps shorter legs. It is about 
the size of a deer, with short branched horns ; is of a light 
brown or yellowish brown color on the back, white under 
the belly and has short, white, rather bushy tails. I allud- 
ed to them as bounding over the hills, I might almost with 
propriety called it gliding. They have not a long and high 
bound like the deer, but leap close to the ground, and at a 
distance appear to glide along with but little exertion ; their 
motions are so regular and gentle, that a very imperfect 
idea of their fleetness is formed when not compared with 
the speed of other animals. 

They are animals of remarkable curiosity, and this is 
taken advantage of in hunting them. A small red flag 
will decoy them to a spot where the hunter lies ready to 
shoot, and secure his game. A passing wagon will attract 
their attention ; and even when hotly pursued, they will yield 
to the promptings of their curiosity, and stop occasionally,, 
turn around, raise their heads and very deliberately gaze at 
their pursuer for a moment, and then dash off again. 
They get demoralized, as the soldiers say, sometimes, and 
run right into danger. On one occasion I saw an antelope 
run by the entire column within fifty yards, and at least 
twenty-five shots were fired at him without effect. They 
are exceedingly difficult to shoot when in motion. 

I well remember my first exciting race after one of them. 
I thought I had a chance to head him off so as to get 



28 ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 

within pistol range ; so away I dashed, my horse participa- 
ting in the excitement, and running with a swiftness that 
astonishe i me ; but I soon saw how useless it was, for the 
antelope was travelling at the rate of two miles to my one. 
They are killed in large number by the Indians, and their 
meat dried for food, while their skins are tanned and 
dressed, and traded like the deer (buck) skin, but are not con- 
sidered so valuable. Quite a number of young antelopes 
were caught by the soldiers, and taken along by the ladies 
as pets ; but they all died or were abandoned because of 
the difficulty in carrying them, and the scarcity of milk 
upon which they require to be fed. The antelope zoolog- 
ically considered, ranges between a goat and a deer. They 
are much more gracefully formed than the former, and 
while they are quite as pretty as the latter, they are fleeter 
animals. 

Along Lodge Pole Creek, as elsewhere on the plains, 
the little prairie dog abounds. This animal has really no 
resemblance to a dog, but having a sharp bark like one is 
called so in consequence. Its shape is more like a squirrel, 
and it belongs to that family. It has not the long tail, 
however, and their average size is about twice that of the 
little animal it resembles. They are by no means solitary 
in their habits, but hundreds of them are found together in 
their ,c towns." They bore into the ground, and throw 
the loose earth into little round piles beside the holes. A 
large number of these holes, near together, constitute a 
prairie-dog town or village, as it is called. Some of them 
are spread out over many acres of ground. They have 
the reputation of selecting strange bed-fellows, and it 
it is said an owl, a snake, and a prairie-dog will occupy the 
same hole. I cannot vouch for the truthfulness of this 
from personal observation. 

On one occasion I came nearly shooting myself, and did 
shoot my horse, while attempting to fire at an impudent 
little fellow who sat on the pile of dirt by his hole, not five 
rods away, barking as the soldiers marched by. Not being 
able to make my horse stand until I could get a good aim, 



ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 29 

I started to dismount, determined to have a shot, and when 
in the act of doing so, the pistol was accidentally discharged, 
the ball taking effect in the neck of the horse, and he stag- 
gered for a while as if fatally wounded. My own head 
was so near the pistol at the time, that for a moment or two 
I could not realize whether I was shot and reeling, or the 
horse under me. 

The rattlesnake was also found along this as well as 
other parts of the route. As they lay sunning themselves 
in the road, the men several times came near treading upon 
them ; but when he made known his presence by sounding 
his rattle, he was given a pretty wide berth until despatched. 
This was always attended to as faithfully as if the soldier 
regarded it as a sacred duty. One man would mash his 
head with the butt of his gun, and another would immedi- 
ately grab the rattles from his tail. This was my first ex- 
perience with his snakeship, and I haven't the slightest af- 
finity for him. The noise made by a species of grasshop- 
per is so similar, that I have more than once been startled 
by it, thinking it was a snake. 

This part of our journey was lonesome enough, though 
the route is much more direct to Utah and beyond ; the 
emigrants avoid it because of the danger of being attacked 
by Indians ; the mail coaches pass south of it by way of 
Denver ; and not even our old companions, the telegraph 
posts are to be found here — they go north to Laramie. 
From the Platte to a point near the Big Laramie River, 
where we again struck the stage line, a solitary train was 
all we saw to break the monotony of our daily marches ; 
and, save the drivers of this train, not a human face was 
seen, except those of our own command, in a journey of 
ten days and nearly 200 miles. The train belonged to the 
sutler at Fort Bridger, and was on the way to the river to 
bring out goods. Two of the ladies were to stop at the 
post it was from, and many were the inquiries made con- 
cerning the quarters at the post, and various other matters 
that they considered would be conducive to their comfort 
there. We passed the remains of a train burnt by the Indians 



3 o ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 

last fall, and the graves of several who had fallen by the 
same hands at different periods. 

Along this route, and indeed throughout the valleys and 
flat lands extending from the main Platte to the Pacific 
coast, there are deposits of an alkaline substance (a salt of 
soda) to be found on the surface of the ground. I learn, 
from reliable authority, that in places on the northern route 
it is found to the depth of a foot ; but where we travelled 
it formed only a small coating over the ground where it had 
been dissolved by the rain, and deposited again upon the 
surface in a white powder, after the evaporation of the 
water. 

On the 7th of June we encountered one of those terrific 
hail storms, so common on the plains. Early in the 
evening a cloud was observed just above the western hori- 
zon. It attracted but little attention at first, as the wind 
was blowing directly towards it, and we supposed the storm 
would not reach us, but an upper current caused the cloud 
to approach rapidly. The eastern wind soon changed to 
one from the opposite direction, and between eight and nine 
o'clock it blew with the violence of a tornado, and with it 
came a few drops of rain. Immediately afterwards the 
hail commenced; at first only a few pieces of moderate 
size mixed with the rain, but in^. short time the whole of 
the cloud seemed to have congealed, and fell in fragments 
as large as black walnuts, and with a velocity and force 
that was terrific, and in a few minutes almost covered the 
ground. The night was intensely dark, and during the 
frightful storm the flashes of lightning followed each other 
in a A uick succession, and with painful brilliancy ; and the 
roar of the thunder together with the noise of the hail 
stones striking the tent-poles, sounded like artillery in battle 
amidst the rattle of musketry. 

I felt confident that our new stout canvass tents would be 
perforated, and that the mules would break from their fast- 
enings and stampede ; and feared serious personal injury to 
any who might be exposed ; but much to my surprise and 
gratification, I learned, when it was over, that no accident 



THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS. 31 

whatever had occurred. So thick was the hail that large 
quantities of it lay on the ground until sunrise the next 
morning. 



CHAPTER V. 



THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS. 

As we marched westward along Lodge Pole Creek the 
Black Hills in which the stream rises came in view; but at 
the same time appeared a grander sight, the snow-clad sum- 
mits of the Medicine Bow Mountains looming up conspic- 
uously away to the southwest. They were the first moun- 
tains covered with perennial snow that I had seen, and 
after gazing at them for a long time I began to doubt their 
reality, thinking it possible in this country of strange freaks 
of nature a white cloud hanging about the horizon might 
assume the appearance of the object before me. But an- 
other day's march, and a clearer atmosphere, made the out- 
lines of Long's Peak, which has an elevation of 14,000 
feet above the sea, as well* as the summit of the adjacent 
range so distinct that no question could then arise as to 
their true character. All doubts being settled as to what 
we saw, the officers then commenced estimating the dis- 
tance that separated the mountains from us, and their esti- 
mates varied from 30 to 60 miles ; but a two days' journey 
somewhat in their direction when they were still apparently 
as far away as when first observed, as well as a reference to 
my map, told me to conclude that the highest estimate 
should have been increased at least one half to get the 
real distance. 

On most of the popular maps, this spur of the Rocky 
Mountains is styled the Meridian Ridge, or the Meridian 
Bow Ridge, but on the topographical charts of the army, 
it is put down as I have written it, and is so called by the 



3 2 



THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS. 



mountaineers who are familiar with the country. Why it is 
designated Medicine Bow I have not learned. 

The flowers of the Prairie were here quite different in 
variety from those before observed, but not the less beauti- 
ful. The cactus which is found almost everywhere on the 
plains and mountains, assumes a different form with the 
changes in the character of the soil in which it grows. In- 
stead of the flat oblong leaf with which we had previously 
met the oval shaped prickly-pear was to be found abundant 
here ; and at this season their crimson and yellow blossoms 
were just opening in all their freshness and beauty. For 
richness of color I think they were unsurpassed by any 
flowers that I had ever seen. How enjoyable to a class in 
botany would be a summer's trip over the plains of Ne- 
braska and Colorado ! 

Reaching the Black Hills — probably so called from the 
black appearance the growth of cedar on them presents, v/e 
encamped for the night in the mouth of a beautiful canon, 
the former site of a military post known as Fort Walbach. 
Canon pronounced kanyon, is a Spanish word, meaning a 
valley or a pass in the mountains, and is universally used 
throughout the far West. I think I never heard a fron- 
tiersman use the word valley. I remember an anecdote 
told of the old mountaineer, James Bridger ; how he mace 
rather an odd use of his frontier nomenclature. He is said 
to have visited St. Louis, and stopped at the Planters' 
House. After registering; his name he looked out, and ob- 
served a crowd of people passing down Third Street as is 
usual during business hours, and turning to the clerk inquired, 

" what in was going on down the Canon to attract so 

many people." 

Our camping ground at Fort Walbach was a very pic- 
turesque one and appeared the more beautiful after marching 
through a country of so much sameness of scenery, and of 
so different a character. On either side of us were the 
smooth but somewhat abrupt slopes of immense hills, and 
the valley between, thickly covered with tall grass, was 
watered by a clear mountain stream running through it ; 



THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS. 33 

and from the side of the hill gushed out a large spring of 
delicious water of a temperature requiring no ice to cool 
it. 

The next morning we commenced the hilly part of our 
journey, and these hills, like the whole mountainous region 
beyond, possess much interest to the geologist. We 
crossed the range in one day's march, the entire road being 
of ascents and descents until we passed over into Laramie 
Plain on the West. In one of the depressions where the 
road was bad, and the column was halted to assist in getting 
the wagons along, I found the trees covered with the names 
of travellers who had probably stopped for a similar pur- 
pose. A foolish way of seeking fame, if to such the parties 
who inscribed their names there aspired ! Along the eastern 
slope of the highest of these hills, and by the way I can't 
understand why they are not called a mountain range. The 
definition of hills and mountains as given in the geographies 
of my school-boy days left the scholar to make a very 
capricious distinction between them, and what I might, 
upon their authority, after a journey over the plains, call a 
mountain, an old hunter fresh from Long's Peak or Fremont's 
might upon the same authority call a hill. But I was 
about to write, when I digressed, that upon these eminences, 
banks of snow were still remaining when we crossed in the 
middle of June. Making snow-balls at that season was 
rather a novel employment for me. 

When we reached the summit of the most westerly of 
the range, there opened out before us the grandest landscape 
view of my life. Without any knowledge of that topo- 
graphy of the country I was approaching, I rode leisurely 
ahead of the column, and upon ascending to the brow of a 
hill, as suddenly as a panoramic painting is brought to the 
view after the withdrawal of the curtain, so suddenly appear- 
ed this natural panorama, more sublime than was ever de 
picted upon canvass. My psn is inadequate to a just 
description of its grandeur and beauty, and I can convey to 
the reader but a faint idea of the scene that then lay before 
me. I doubt if the editor of the Advocate when he 



34 THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS. 

crossed the renowned Alps a few years ago witnessed a sight 
more grand and magnificent. Far away to the South and 
Southeast were the snow-clad mountains that attracted our 
attention for days before reaching the Black Hills. Their 
tallest peaks only were visible to us then, but now I beheld 
the whole majestic range with summits as white with snow 
as in January, and shining under the rays of a noon-day sun 
in the month of June. The Black Hills upon which I 
stood extended from a point not far removed from the moun- 
tains to which I have just referred, in a northerly, and then 
changing their course to a westerly direction, making with 
the mountains a somewhat irregular triangular shape. Long 
distances separated the two ranges, it is true, but these 
spaces were not to be seen from where I e stood, and the 
mountains appear to completely surround a basin which 
is the wide extended Laramie Plain. From my stand- 
point the ground below appeared to be as level as an 
Illinois prairie,, and for many miles could be seen the 
road over which we were to travel, looking like a narrow 
Indian trail through the green prairie grass. The Big Lar- 
amie River rising in the Medicine Bow Mountains was 
ever winding through the plain in its course towards the 
North Platte ; and far beyond the Black Hills to the north- 
east loomed up the solitary but lofty Laramie Peak. Look 
which way I might, the grandest prospect met my gaze ; 
but that part of the scene which most absorbed my atten- 
tion was the elevated glistening summits of the snowy moun- 
tains to the south. What a sight for a landscape painter ! 

The view had its inspiring effect upon the soldiers as well 
as upon myself. Marching in the hot sun up a long hill 
had caused a perfect silence in the ranks, which may always 
be noticed when the men are fatigued, but as they reached 
the brow of the hill, and beheld what I have endeavored to 
describe they seemed to be invigorated with new life, and 
the loud hum of conversation extended along the whole 
column. It was not a scene to inspire enthusiasm, but pro- 
found and subdued wonder and admiration. 

Not until I started to descend did I realize the elevation 



THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS. 35 

from which I had this extended view. The road to the 
base of the hill (but I must now call it a mountain) looked 
to be about a mile long, but an hour's ride did not take me 
beyond the slope. When upon this plain I could not re- 
cognize it as the one I had seen from the eminence, for 
instead of its proving to be level, as it appeared, I found an 
undulating surface like the rolling prairies of Kansas on a 
smaller scale. 

Reaching the river where we were to encamp, after a 
long and weary ride I lay upon the grass still reviewing the 
mountain scenery and watching the little silvery clouds as- 
sume fantastic shapes upon the clear blue sky, and wonder- 
ing, admiring and worshipping I fell asleep upon my grassy 
couch. 

Immediately after going into camp, we were visited by a 
small war party of the Sioux Indians, who were anything 
but belligerently inclined when they saw the number of men 
we had. A war party may be known by the absence of 
squaws, and of lodges, and by all the men being mounted. 
True to the Indian character, our visitors became beggars, 
but did not succeed in getting any rations or anything else, 
and soon left rather disgusted with their reception. Fear- 
ing that they would be still further true to the Indian char- 
acter, an extra guard was placed over the mules that nighty 
but they made no attempt to steal, and probably left the 
vicinity at once. 

The next morning the soldiers indulged in an early cold 
bath in fording the Big Laramie which was high from the 
melting snow in the mountains, and the water waist deep j 
but the men had become accustomed to such performances 
and waded in as cheerfully as if taking a morning bath at 
Cape May in the month of August. But to me the sight 
of others in such cold water on such a cold morning was 
almost a shock to my nervous system ! 

Our wagon-master, who had been over this country 
several times before, had raised my expectations in regard 
to hunting. When travelling along the Platte River and 
Lodge Pole Creek, looking in vain for a bird to shdot, he 



36 THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS. 

would tell me to be patient until we reached the Black Hills 
and Laramie Plain, where sage hares and jackass rabbits 
he represented would be almost innumerable. But all my 
anticipations were doomed to disappointment, as not a 
rabbit or a grouse was seen. It may have been the country 
for them, but it certainly was not the season in that 
country. Here the sage brush upon which the birds feed 
began to appear, and afterwards we passed over almost 
interminable fields of it. 

In the Medicine Bow Mountains, in this vicinity, Elk 
were reported as very numerous, and I presume they must 
have been, from the fact that elk meat was sold in this 
country of exorbitant prices at a few cents per pound, and 
less than the government paid for beef at the next post. 
There on our journey for the first time, I indulged in a 
:roast of elk meat for my dinner. It had been hanging in the 
dry, rarified air of that elevated region, until it was near 
that condition when it could hang no longer, and had 
become as tender as a spring chicken and as delicious too. 

I do not pretend to be a connoisseur of meats, but I can't 
understand in what condition the gustatory organs of 
writers could have been, when they refer to elk meat as 
coarse, dry and unpalatable. My cook was not specially 
skilful in his art, nor had I been deprived of fresh meat, so 
I cannot attribute my relish of the roast of elk to the way 
it was served, or to a craving appetite, but the merit must 
have been in the meat itself. I was the more convinced of 
that after eating a broiled tenderloin steak of it for breakfast 
the next morning. 

We learned that there had been a fall of snow where we 
encamped only a day or two before, but at noon-day the 
weather was then quite warm, though a couple of pairs of 
blankets were not undesirable articles on our beds at 
night. 

Cool nights are characteristic of the plains, whether con- 
tiguous to the mountains as we then were or not. The 
season for musquitoes in that locality had not arrived, and 
our sleep was undisturbed and refreshing. 



FROM FORT HALLECK, &c. 37 

We passed several additional graves of soldiers and 
citizens murdered by the Indians the year before, and on 
the head-board of one I read, " Burned by the Indians ," etc. 
Subsequently I learned the particulars of the death of the 
unfortunate man buried there. He was one of a small 
party of soldiers guarding a train which was attacked by 
the savages, and all his companions escaped, but he was 
captured. The inhuman wretches then tied him to the 
wheel of a wagon, loaded with combustible material, and 
set fire to it, burning the unfortunate soldier to a crisp. 
Horrible ! but literally true ! 

Winding around the base of the mountain, in a westerly 
direction, in two or three days we reached the next military 
post — Fort Ha Heck. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FROM FORT HALLECK TO THE NORTH PLATTE. 

Fort Halleck, another of the frontier posts established 
since the late war began, was a rudely built and unattractive 
station, situated at the "base of the western part of the 
Medicine Bow range of mountains, or what is more com- 
monly called the Elk Mountain. In this locality the 
most violent winter winds prevail, rendering it exceed- 
ingly bleak and uncomfortable for many months in the year. 
Fort Halleck has an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet above 
the sea, and on the 4th of July of last year was visited by a 
severe snow-storm. Since we passed there in the middle 
of June, the post has been discontinued, and the garrison 
removed 60 miles east, to a point in Laramie Plains, near 
where we crossed the Big Laramie River, to which I 
referred in my last.' 

Soon after our arrival there, the work of demolishing the 



38 FROM FORT HALLECK 

old station, and building the new, began. For the new 
post, a new name was adopted, and at first it was known as 
Fort John Buford, after one of the dead heroes of the late 
war, but since, the name has been changed again to Fort 
Sanders. The post was built under the personal super- 
vision of Brevet Lieut. -Col. Mizner, of the 1 8th Infantry, 
who was a co?npagnon du voyage from St. Louis on the 
march I am now describing. Fort Sanders is probably the 
best post on the frontier, constructed solely by soldiers' 
labor, in the West. 

The old site of Fort Halleck is in a section of country 
far removed from settlements, and frequented only by 
frontiersmen, Indians, bears, and the passing traveller, with 
here and there a ranche, the keepers of which are generally 
a rough, desperate-looking set of men, conforming with the 
character of the country in which they reside. 

A total disregard of civil law prevails here ; indeed, there 
are no civil officers to enforce law, and the bold perpetra- 
tion of murder and other gross crimes has been of frequent 
occurrence. In many instances they pass unnoticed, but 
sometimes there are mock-trials and executions, by self- 
constituted courts, more barbarous in their character, than 
the bold assassinations for real and imaginary wrongs, 
which the courts are intended to punish. I was informed 
of one where a frontiersman was tried for murder, said to 
have been committed' in self-defence, and while a jury of 
four men was hearing the evidence, a party were at work 
digging a grave and making a coffin for the prisoner, whose 
case had evidently been prejudged, and he was tried and 
executed all within a few hours. Everybody goes armed. 
A frontiersman would be more likely to forget or neglect 
to put on his hat when going out in a snow-storm, than to 
leave behind him his pistol on any occasion. They place a 
very low value on human life, and to shoot a man dead 
because of a slight controversy, is considered the most 
expeditious and certain way of settling the misunder- 
stand i 112;. 

A vigilance committee exists in the territory, but without 



TO THE NORTH PLATTE. 39 

the organization and concert of action which characterized 
the great California committee in the early part of the his- 
tory of that State. 

The conduct of some of the " vigilanters," as they are 
called, has been so represented to me, that I would about as 
lief meet in an unfrequented place, an old grizzly, or two 
or three hostile Sioux, as one of these protectors (?) of the 
peace of the territory. 

Considering all things, I congratulated myself upon not 
being ordered to a post in that country, preferring to take 
the chances of a more congenial state of things at a more 
distant station. 

The prices charged for such articles as could be purchased 
of the sutler at Halleck, or at the ranches in the vicinity, 
were enormously high. The canned fruits and vegetables 
for which I paid $3 and $4 a dozen in Leavenworth, $2 a 
can was here the lowest price, and flour, for which an officer 
would be charged 5 cents a pound by the Commissary, was 
sold to the emigrant by the sutler in an adjoining building 
at 60 cents, while shot for which I paid 15 cents a pound in 
St. Louis, here commanded 75 cents ; and this enormous 
advance is charged, when the highest rate of freight from 
the Missouri River is 12 cents per pound. I was glad to find 
that my larder required no further replenishing than the 
Commissary could supply. 

At Fort Halleck our column was still further reduced by 
turning over to that garrison two other companies, and 
there we parted with another of our Surgeons, Dr. Avery, 
leaving but one, of about a dozen that left Leavenworth, to 
continue the journey. But there was little need for doc- 
tors. It is astonishing how healthy men keep when on a 
march. We did not leave a single sick man at any post 
between Leavenworth and Salt Lake City. 

A two days' march from Halleck brought us to the ferry 
of the North Platte. As we descended into the valley the 
roadside was literally covered with wild flowers, varied in 
kind and color to an extent we had not before observed. 
They were of varieties different from any cultivated flowers 



4 o FROM FORT HALLECK 

I have seen, and of an exquisite beauty of form and color 
that would rival the rarest productions in the conservatories 
of our eastern cities. 

But from this scene of life and beauty we must take the 
reader to one of a different character. Reaching the river 
we found it swollen, its current of unusual swiftness, and a 
strong wind blowing so as to render it hazardous to attempt 
a crossing, and for a day or two we remained in camp, 
awaiting more auspicious circumstances. The wind having 
subsided the crossing commenced, and the entire supply 
train got over without accident, and then began the ferrying 
over of the wagons with company baggage. Soon after 
this commenced, through the carelessness of the ferryman, 
who had been indulging freely in whiskey, the boat, with 
wagon, mules, and a number of men on it, swamped, just 
after leaving the shore, emptying everything into the rapid 
current. It was a shocking sight to behold. The men, 
mules and wagon were rushed by within a few yards of the 
shore, and hundreds witnessed the scene, but were unable 
to render any assistance to their drowning comrades, who 
sunk beneath the surface, one after another, right before our 
eyes, until five had drowned. A few escaped, including the 
ferryman, but the mules, wagon and contents were alt 
lost. 

I had crossed previous to the accident and witnessed on 
the western bank an affecting scene. The wife and child 
of a sergeant who was among the lost, saw the accident 
from where I stood, but were not aware of the husband and 
father being on the boat, until the report was made from 
the other side that Serg't St. John was drowned. The 
grief of the widow was then demonstrated in the most bit- 
ter weeping, while the little girl of about 10 years became 
almost frantic, uttered the most piteous shrieks, and had to 
be forcibly restrained from rushing into the frightful stream. 
I have but seldom witnessed a sight more affecting ! The 
child continued in this highly agitated state until nearly ex- 
hausted, and then in the most deliberate manner clasped her 
hands together, raised her eyes, and with beautiful emphasis, 



TO THE NORTH PLATTE. 41 

exclaimed : " Good Lord, have mercy upon me, and help 
me to bear this." The prayer seemed to bring its immedi- 
ate answer, for the little one was quiet at once and appeared 
reconciled, and afterward exhibited much fortitude. 

No other boat was to be had, and the larger part of the 
command had "not crossed, and were separated from supplies 
which were on the western side. Nothing could be got 
over, and wagons were sent back to Fort Halleck for sub- 
sistence for the men until the ferry could be reestablished. 

The boat, which had landed on an island two miles be- 
low was, after great exertion by the entire command, re- 
covered and brought back to the ferry, but not until another 
life was lost in the attempt — the proprietor of a freight 
train, who was assisting the soldiers in getting the boat from 
the island to the mainland, was drowned within ten feet 
of the bank of the stream. He was a wealthy and highly re- 
spected citizen of Nebraska. 

This ferry is the property of the Overland Mail Company, 
of which Mr. Ben Holladay was then the principal stock- 
holder. Indeed, he might be said to own the line between 
the Missouri River and Salt Lake City, so complete was 
his control of it. I will take this occasion to refer again to 
this company, as I promised to do in a previous letter. 

A few years ago Mr. Holladay contracted with the Post- 
Office Department to run a daily mail from the Missouri 
river to the Pacific. For doing so, he was to receive from 
the Government seven hundred and % fifty thousand dollars a 
year ; and various military posts were established along the 
route, both for the protection of the mails and the prop- 
erty of the contractor. Wherever there was danger of a 
coach being attacked by Indians, a military escort accom- 
panied it. The mail is carried in the boots of stage-coaches, 
which are patronized by passengers at all seasons ; and the 
coaches also carry express packages, for which freight at 
the rate of one dollar per pound is charged to Salt Lake 
City. For a through trip to California, at the time Mr. 
H. relinquished control of the line, a ticket cost about 
four hundred and fifty dollars — meals extra, at the rate of a 



42 FROM FORT HALLECK 

dollar to a dollar and a half each, and for all baggage in 
excess of 25 lbs., a dollar and a half per pound is charged. 
He has been reimbursed by the Government for animals lost 
or stolen by the Indians, and since the contract for carrying 
the mails was awarded to him, he has secured the passage 
by Congress of a bill, requiring letter postage to be paid on 
all printed matter sent in the overland mail, except on news- 
papers mailed by the publishers to regular subscribers. 
Fond mothers are thus deprived of the privilege of sending 
occasionally a newspaper to a soldier son on the frontier, 
and sweethearts in the States must content themselves by 
writing to their soldier lovers the gist of the new novels, 
as it is too expensive to forward them in Mr. Holladay's 
mail. 

How has the Government, which has sustained this mo- 
nopoly, been treated in return for its liberality ? 

It is the custom of railroad companies, throughout the 
States, to transport officers and soldiers of the army over 
their lines, on orders of quartermasters, for which they col- 
lect a lower rate than is charged passengers generally. Mr. 
Holladay refuses to recognize the orders of a quartermas- 
ter, because, when settling his last account, he was required 
to make a deduction from the enormous rates charged. 
No officer or soldier is allowed to travel in his coaches 
without paying for a ticket at the established rate. The 
result of this was great inconvenience to officers, and in- 
jury to the service. For instance, an officer may be or- 
dered from Camp Douglas to P'ort Leavenworth ; he has 
not $300 to meet his expenses, but he must go. The 
quartermaster then furnishes him with an ambulance and 
wagon, and the commanding officers of posts escort him 
through the dangerous country, and after a two months' 
journey he reaches his destination, the Government having 
incurred greater expense than the stage-fare, besides losing 
the officer's services for the two months he spent on the 
way. 

The mail company have made ferries, and built bridges 
over streams crossed by their coaches. When government 



TO THE NORTH PLATTE. 43 

teams pass over these ferries or bridges, the same rates of toll 
or ferriage are charged as to emigrants — indeed higher rates if 
the cash is not paid. At the North Platte a traveller might 
cross a single wagon for five dollars, and if the Government 
crossed a hundred, the ferryman would require a voucher 
for seven dollars a wagon — that is, two dollars additional 
for sending to Denver to collect. On the occasion of the 
accident referred to, after the loss of six lives, and a large 
amount of public property, through the carelessness of an 
employe, and the labor of several hundred soldiers in re- 
covering the lost boat, and re-establishing the ferry, an agent 
of the company thought the Government should pay some- 
thing, if not full ferriage. Most decidedly cool ! 

The stages at both termini of the route are fine Concord 
coaches ; but these seldom get beyond the first home sta- 
tion, when inferior ones are substituted, and both stages 
and stock continue depreciating as you go onward, and on 
some parts of the route the passengers often, in bad 
weather, are compelled to walk for miles, because of the 
horses being unable to draw'them. I have in several in- 
stances known passengers to be transferred from the infe- 
rior coaches, commonly known on the plains as " mud 
wagons," to a common army-wagon, without springs or 
cover. 

Mr. Colfax and party, when crossing the continent, were 
furnished one of the best coaches, and that allowed to go 
all the way through, hence Mr. Bowles' unqualified praise 
of their conveyances. If the party had travelled incog., and 
been transferred into an uncovered army-wagon, it would 
probably have interfered very materially with Mr. Holladay's 
influence in the House of Representatives. 

There are some of the facts connected with the stage 
company as conducted a few months ago. Since that time 
it has passed into the hands of the enterprising and popular 
firm of Wells, Fargo & Co., who are now the proprietors 
of the line through to the Pacific, having some time previ- 
ously purchased the line from Salt Lake City west. One of 
the first acts of the new company was to reduce the fare, 



44 FROM FORT HALLECK 

and I understand the line has already grown in popu- 
larity.* 

While awaiting the recovery of the boat, and the crossing 
of the remainder of the command over the North Platte, 
those of us on the western side were visited by a large band of 
the Ute Indians, who had come down the road to trade skins 
and furs before going on the war-path against the Arapa- 
hoes with whom they are at enmity. Their squaws, old 
men and pappooses had all been left behind, and the entire 
band was mounted on ponies, and armed. Their ostensible 
mission, as I said before, was a fight with the Arapahoes,but 
I was much inclined to the belief that they were really on a 
grand stealing expedition, and a little extra vigilance was 
exercised in guarding our animals. They traded large num- 
bers of beaver skins and dressed buckskins to the officers 
and soldiers for old coats, blankets, &c, but seemed to place 
no value on greenbacks. Hardly from a want of confidence 
in the stability of the Government! I exhibited to one 
who was above the average in point of intelligence a fifty 
dollar bill, and at the same time a new ten cent note ; the 
latter he seemed to regard as the most desirable, but would 
not accept either in trade for a beaver skin, which he after- 
ward bartered away for an old cast-off woolen shirt. Many 
of them exhibited shrewdness in trading, and I think under- 
stood English better than they were willing to admit. They 
were exceedingly anxious to trade for weapons and ammu- 
nition, but further than a few cartridges, which the soldiers 
bartered away, they got nothing of the kind. 

Throughout the journey it was a rule with officers not 
to leave the column or camp without means of defence against 
Indians ; and indeed at nearly all times I had my pistol by 
my side ready for an emergency. One afternoon, however, 
when lying in my tent, I removed the weapon and put it 

* Since the above was written a gentleman informed me that he had seen a 
copy of a letter addressed by the Postmaster General, to Mr. Holladay, calling his 
attention to frequent neglects to comply with his contracts notwithstanding the 
great liberality of the Government, and threatening to cancel the contract if 
not more carefully regarded. 



TO THE NORTH PLATTE. 45 

under my pillow, and being called to visit an emigrant camp 
a short distance off, I rode out alone, and turning suddenly 
around a hill, I came upon two of the most desperate and 
villainous-looking warriors I had seen in the band. As they 
started to accompany me, all riding abreast, I discovered that 
I had left my pistol behind, and it being desirable, under 
the circumstances, to appear as friendly as possible, with 
the most complacent smile I could make I gave the usual sal- 
utation "How." This was recognized by a sort of grunt, 
like a dog, by the fellow next to me, with any other than a 
pleasant expression of countenance, and his want of cordial- 
ity was not the less noticed because of a long lance which 
he carried in his hand. I may have been in no danger, but 
must confess to some degree of nervousness, and breathed 
more freely when I came up with a few emigrants after a 
very short and very unpleasant ride with my dusty com- 
panions. 

The Utes, I understand, have not been hostile to emi- 
grants generally, but are unfriendly toward the Mormons, 
and have commttied depredations upon their trains and other 
property, and charge the " saints" with deceitfulness and 
treachery. A queer charge coming from an Indian ! 

During our stay upon the Platte they encamped on the 
bluffs all around us ; and notwithstanding their protestations 
of friendship and the absence of all hostility on their part 
for some years, I had so little confidence in the Indian char- 
acter that I could have slept more soundly if a little further 
removed from so large a number of armed warriors. Their 
weapons consisted of a great variety, including rifles, shot- 
guns, pistols, lances, and bows and arrows, but the latter 
predominated. 

After a delay of six days the command was crossed with- 
out further accident, and we resumed our marches over a 
mountainous country, reaching Bridger's Pass in two days. 
This was an epoch of our journey, for we had reached the 
western slope of the Rocky Mountains. 



CHAPTER VII. 



FROM BRIDGER's PASS TO GREEN RIVER. 

Travelling along a deep valley, with tall mountains on 
either side, we leave a small stream which runs eastward, 
finally to empty into the Galf of Mexico, and in a few 
minutes come to another that flows into the great Pacific. 
This valley is the celebrated Bridger's Pass in the Rocky 
Mountains. 

Though at an elevation of 8,000 feet, quite a change in the 
appearance of things was to be observed at once. The 
grass was more luxuriant and the snow-capped mountains 
had now disappeared, and those around us were covered 
with verdure to their summits. All nature seemed to wear 
a more genial aspect, and we travelled forward anticipating 
still further evidences of a more temperate climate. The 
weather grew warmer, and we were subjected to the annoy- 
ance of myriads of mosquitoes, which were vastly more 
troublesome than they ever proved to be in New Orleans. 
They not only bit the exposed skin, but through the thinner 
clothing, and an ordinary glove afforded no protection to 
the hands. The horses became victims as well as their 
riders, and soon their bodies were covered with great lumps 
from the irritation of the bite of these troublesome little in- 
sects. In camp we resorted to thealmost suffocating smoke 
from a smudge of sage-brush to drive them from our tents j 
but fortunately the cool nights caused them to disappear 
soon after sundown. 

For days before the time of which I now write, as well 



FROM BRIDGER'S PASS, &c. 47 

as for weeks afterward, we were almost constantly meet- 
ing the trains of emigrants returning from California. It 
was surprising to witness this great tide of emigration from 
the Land of Gold back to the Eastern States. Hundreds 
of families, with all their wordly goods and their entire 
households, were seeking again the homes of their earlier 
years. 

I have often heard of the Pacific coast as being most 
prolific in its multiplication of the genus homo, but I never 
fully realized the extent to which the " blessings " and "re- 
sponsibilities" of the Californian might be increased until I 
saw these trains. " A poor man for children," is an old 
vulgar adage, but I would substitute for it, " A Californian 
for children." We passed wagon after wagon with juve- 
nile heads in front, juvenile heads behind, juvenile heads to 
the right, and juvenile heads to the left — literally rows of 
little faces, from two to a dozen years old, peeping out 
from under the covers all around, and all dirty, healthy, and 
happy. 

I inquired the cause of this great exodus from a land into 
which, only a few years ago, over the same road, the gold- 
seeking travellers poured like pilgrims into Mecca, and 
learned that California now is the gold-field only for China- 
men and capitalists. Gold is still abundant in extensive 
quartz ledges, but is fast disappearing from the beds of 
streams, where a few years ago so much was obtained by 
the miner with his pick, shovel, and wash-pan. Extensive 
machinery is required in mining profitably the ledges to 
which I refer, and these ledges are now monopolized by 
capitalists with their immense quartz-crushing and hydrau- 
lic mining machines, and the yield of gold from them, 
though as great perhaps as ever from quartz mining, is now 
divided among the few instead of the masses, as formerly. 
The primitive mode of mining has ceased to be profitable 
to all save " John Chinaman," who toils hard in the almost 
exhausted " diggings " for a very small quantity of gold ; 
and his frugality is such that he will save money where even 
the prudent Yankee would starve. The latter, therefore, 



48 FROM BRIDGER'S PASS 

are fast abandoning the country, either to search for th« 
precious metal in Idaho or Montana, where it abounds in 
the beds of streams, as formerly in California, or to return 
to their homes, as was the case with those we met. They 
informed me that there were thousands of families who re- 
mained in the State only because of a want of means ta 
enable them to leave it. 

Disappointed miners were not confined to those of Cali- 
fornia only, but the newer regions had theirs also. About 
the time of which I have been writing, I met the very ex- 
tensive effects of a defunct mining company returning from 
the new gold region of Montana. It consisted of a train 
of elaborately constructed wagons, on which the bright red 
paint was yet comparatively fresh, and conspicuously let- 
tered upon each was "Montana U. S. Gold Mining Co." 
With them were a large engine and boilers, and the whole 
was en route for Denver City, where the effects of the 
company had been sold. I got the following bit of history 
from the gentleman in charge of the train. 

Some time ago some shrewd individuals from Montana 
called upon capitalists in the East, and portrayed, in very 
extravagant terms, the immense wealth of gold lands where 
they represented that they had established claims ; but for 
want of means were unable to work the mines successfully 
on their own account. They exhibited specimens of rich 
gold quartz, with elaborate charts of the country in which 
the gold lands were represented to be located. Without a 
survey of the country, or inspection of the mines, and en- 
tirely upon the representations of these men, a company, 
with a capital of $200,000, was immediately organized, and 
the outfit to which I have referred was the result. After a 
year's explorations and researches, not only did they fail to 
produce the gold which they expected to pour like a stream 
into their treasury, but were unable to find even the land they 
had purchased. 

This may strike the reader as an improbable story, but I 
give it upon the authority of an intelligent gentleman who 
was in charge of the property. 



TO GREEN RIVER. 49 

I find that I have digressed widely, and much of the 
space allowed for this week's letter I have filled in writing 
about things, though not entirely irrelevant, certainly not 
descriptive of my journey. 

In passing through the Rocky Mountains, I observed at 
various places thick strata of coal cropping out along the 
declivities, and here and there I found small mines, worked 
by the Overland Stage Company, for supplying a cheap fuel 
for the stations in the vicinity. The coal obtained is of a 
bituminous nature, and resembles much the celebrated 
cannel coal of England. In the same section of country y 
exuding from the crevices in the rocks, was a dark, semi- 
liquid substance, having the appearance and physical prop- 
erties of petroleum, and I have no doubt was such in real- 
ity. This very much excited a brother officer, who might 
be said to have " petroleum on the brain." He indulged 
in many visionary schemes of making great wealth from oil- 
wells in the Rocky Mountains. When the great Pacific 
Railroad shall have been completed to these mountains, the 
materials for running the road will be conveniently at hand, 
and at the same time the immense mineral resources of 
this region will be developed. Had I the hidden wealth 
contained in the mountains I had passed thus far on my 
journey in an Eastern market, I think I might afford to 
pay one-half of the national debt, and retire from the army 
to a life of affluence. 

After passing beyond the mountains, we came upon an 
extensive barren plain abounding in wild-sage bushes, which 
grew to a height of three or four feet. There were hun- 
dreds of thousands of acres of this land with no other vege- 
table growth upon it, and because of its peculiar production 
it is known as the Artemesian Plain — Artemesia being the 
botanical name of the sage which covers it everywhere. 
So large were the bushes that it afforded a very convenient 
firewood (all to be had), and was objectionable as such 
only because of the unpleasant smell about the camp oc- 
casioned by its combustion. 

A few days' march over this country brought us to a trib- 



5 o FROM BRIDGER'S PASS 

utary of Green River — a small disgusting stream, known as 
Bitter Creek. This was the first bad water we had been 
compelled to use since leaving the Big Muddy, south of Fort 
Kearney. It was a small sluggish stream, changing the 
color of its water with that of the soil through which it flow- 
ed, and in some places looked like a mucilage of red brick- 
dust. Its name is owing to an alkaline rather than bitter 
taste, caused by the absorption of a substance of that na- 
ture of which I have spoken as abounding in the soil of 
most of this western country. There were frequent re- 
ports by emigrants of its fatal effects upon animals that drank 
of it, but I failed to observe any unpleasant consequences 
cither to the animal man or of the brute creation, both of 
which classes in our command and train drank of it freely, 
on a march of several days. 

Of all the country we marched over between Leaven- 
worth and Salt Lake City, that along Bitter Creek was the 
most barren and uninviting. On the prairies of Kansas, 
along the valleys of the Platte, and Lodge Pole Creek, in. 
the Black Hills, on Laramie Plain, through Bridger's Pass, 
everywhere else I saw something to admire ; but along Bitter 
Creek is an arid waste, without a redeeming feature. It 
was disgusting to travel through the country at any time, 
but seemed particularly so on Independence Day. Grass for 
the animals was scarce, the water bad, the weather hot and 
dry, the dust thick — ina word, everything conspired to dis- 
gust the traveller, and even some of our mules became de- 
moralized, and strayed off in search of a more congenial 
country. When I pass along Bitter Creek again I hope it 
will be at night in a sleeping-car. 

One day, while passing along this part of our route, I ob- 
served a man at one of the stage stations preparing for a 
hunting excursion, and upon inquiry I learned that he was 
employed by the company xo hunt game for them, and re- 
ceived for his services the value of the meat he brought in. 
This hunter had been captain in a volunteer regiment, and 
when mustered out of service decided to remain a year in the 
country to indulge in the sport of hunting large game, such as 



TO GREEN RIVER 51 

deer, elk and bear, and found this a way of combining profit 
with amusement. On his excursions he would go alone, 
taking two horses, one of which he rode and on the other 
he packed his game to bring in, and was usually absent only 
two davs in securing a load for his pack-animal. From this 
employment he realized the handsome sum of about $300 
a month. It is only an experienced hunter and a good shot, 
however, who could make it so profitable. I regretted that 
I could not leave the command for a hunt with him, but 
that was impracticable, and I had to forego the pleasure of 
shooting an elk or a bear until a more convenient season, 
if such ever occurs, and it has not up to the date of this 
writing. 

We met on this part of our journey several droves of Cali- 
fornia horses, on their way to the States. These animals are 
purchased on the Pacific coast, at a very low rate, and are 
driven across the plains at a season when grass is good, and 
their transfer to a more profitable market is thus attend- 
ed with but slight expense. If the Indians should run orFa 
herd or two it would require several trips to make good the 
loss. The California horse is not so large or so hardy as 
our eastern horses, which always command a very high price 
west of the mountains. They are known there as the 
American horse, in contradistinction from the California 
horse, or the Indian horse, which is a native of the plains or 
mountains. 

As we marched along Bitter Creek, toward its mouth, 
our route was over a much less elevated country than that 
through which we had marched from Fort Halleck west- 
ward through Bridger's Pass, and it being the second week 
in July the weather had become oppressively hot during the 
middle of the day. But in what remarkable contrast with 
the sensations of our skin was the sight we beheld when 
looking both to the north and to the south! For several 
days we had lost sight of snow-clad mountains, but again 
they came in ,r '~w, and more of them than we had seen at 
one time b fere. Far away to the north were the Wind 
River Moi ntains — ay 60 or 70 miles distant — their sum 



52 FROM GREEN RIVER 

mits completely covered with snow, and their outlines as 
distinct as similar eminences would appear in the atmosphere 
of Louisiana at one-twelfth the distance. At the most re- 
mote part of the range towered up the lofty Fremont's Peak, 
whose summit reaches an altitude of more than 13,000 feet 
ahove that of New Orleans. To the south could be observ- 
ed with equal distinctness the range of the Uintah Mountains, 
likewise white with snow. 

We are now supposed to have reached the mouth of Bit- 
ter Creek, about which I have said such bitter things in this 
letter, and in my next we will resume our march from Green 
River, westward. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FROM GREEN RIVER TO FORT BRIDGER. 

Green River is a stream of considerable importance. 
It rises in the Wind River Mountains, in the western part 
of Idaho Territory, and flowing south and west through 
Utah, becomes the Rio Colorado in Arizona, and empties 
into the Gulf of California. Green River is not navigable, 
or rather, it has never been navigated, and there is a very 
great difference of opinion as to whether it can be or not. 
The Colorado has been navigated, and is still, in the lower 
part of its course. I understand attempts are to be made 
next summer to run steamers far up into Green River. Some 
are of the opinion that this stream can be navigated as high 
as the mouth of Bitter Creek ; but those who are most 
familiar with it think it entirely impracticable. I am very 
well satisfied that it is impracticable after hearing the argu- 
ments, pro and con. During the greater part of the year 
there are many places where the water is not over six or 
eight inches deep, the stream being very wide, and in other 



TO FORT BRIDGER. 53 

places it is narrow, and so filled with rocks and boulders that 
a yawl-boat could hardly pass safely between them. In the 
spring and early summer months there is unquestionably 
water enough at such places to float a small steamer ; but 
at such times an equally formidable difficulty presents itself 
in the swiftness of the current.* 

Green River takes its name from the green foliage along 
its banks, which in many parts of its course appear in re- 
markable contrast with the sterile land contiguous to them. 
Like all the mountain streams we crossed it was much swol- 
len by the melted snow, and through its somewhat narrow 
bed at the point where the road strikes it, its current was 
exceedingly rapid. It was not fordable, and the ferry, dur- 
ing the early summer months, yields a handsome profit to 
the Overland Stage Company, by whom it is owned. As 
usual, the ferriage wms enormously high, and there is no 
way of evading the extortion to which the passing trains are 
subjected. 

This, like all the other ferries over the rapid streams of the 
West, is constructed and worked at a very slight expense to 
the owners. A description of it may not be uninteresting 
to the reader. There is stretched across the stream, a few 
feet above the water, a stout rope cable, to which a rudely 
constructed flat-boat, capable of carrying over a four-horse 
wagon, is attached by ropes at either end, passing through 
pulleys which slide along the cable. When the boat is 
about to cross the rope, the forward end is drawn in so as 
to make that end approach the cable, and the one at the 
hinder part is slackened so that the side of the boat will be 
brought obliquely against the current. The force of the 
water then propels it forward, upon the same principle that 



* Since the above was written, there has been published in the Denver and 
Salt Lake papers, a letter written by Bvt. Lt.-Col. Mills, in command of Fort 
Bridger, in which he states that he proposes to apply to the War Department 
for authority to explore the river next summer The Colonel thinks a small 
steamer, with engines of more than ordinary power, can safely navigate the 
stream to within a short distance of his post. The Colonel's letter to the contrary 
notwithstanding, I am still of the opinion expressed above. 



54 FROM GREEN RIVER 

the wind striking obliquely the sails of a vessel gives it an 
onward motion, or the flat surface of the boy's kite elevates 
it in the air. When the boat has crossed, its position to the 
current is simply reversed by tightening the rope at the op- 
posite end and slackening it where it was tight, and what was 
the stern becomes the bow, and it recrosses the stream by 
the same propelling power. One or two men only are re- 
quired to manage a loaded boat, and the rapidity of its mo- 
tion through the water would astonish one who has never 
witnessed the operation. 

We crossed Green River without a repetition of the hor- 
rible accident that occurred on the North Platte a short 
time before. Our thoughtful commanding officer took the 
precaution to substitute a stouter rope, which was in the 
train, for the somewhat frail-looking one which spanned the 
river when we reached the ferry ; but altogether the cross- 
ing was more carefully managed, and there was no indul- 
gence in whiskey-drinking by the ferrymen when so many 
lives were intrusted to their care. Similar carelessness, not- 
withstanding the precautions taken, would doubtless have 
resulted in a similar catastrophe to the one on the Platte. 

The next locality that attracted our attention was a small 
trading settlement on " Ham's Fork," a stream emptying 
into Green River. 

A few white men, and a larger number of Indians and 
half-breeds, all living in lodges, earn a livelihood at this 
place by buying and selling cattle. When an ox becomes 
foot-sore and exhausted on his long journey, the alter- 
native with the owner lays between abandoning his 
animal or selling him for what he can get, and under these 
circumstances such traders purchase for a mere nominal 
sum, and after a few weeks' rest the ox is sold again for a 
high price. The amount of money made in this way on 
the plains is by no means insignificant. These men also 
trade with the Indians, after they return from their yearly 
hunts, for robes and skins, which they obtain at a mere 
trifling cost, and then sell them on the spot for a higher 
price than the same articles would command in St. Louis* 



TO FORT BRIDGER. 55 

It has been the practice of thieving Indians, almost yearly, 
to fall upon the cattle belonging to the traders at this post 
and run them off. On the night of our encampment there 
a rumor prevailed that a band of Indians was in the vicinity 
on such a mission, and no little excitement occurred in con- 
sequence. Every animal belonging to the traders was driven 
in from the grazing ground, and the Colonel furnished a 
guard for the protection of the settlement ; but the rumor 
proved to be false, and the guard was withdrawn in the 
morning, when we continued our march. 

This is a great country for " Forks." We have a Ham's, a 
Smith's, a Henry's, and we soon reached another — Black's — 
and then encamped. We were then in a more attractive, 
and what might be made a fertile and productive country. 
The banks of the stream were covered with wild roses, and 
tall rich grass took the place of sage-brush, very much to 
the gratification of the mules, for they had not had such 
grazing since we left Lodge Pole Creek. 

A remarkable natural curiosity in this vicinity is " Church 
Butte," a tall mound of soft sandstone and clay, which 
has been shaped by the winds and rains in this very muddy 
country, so as to present the appearance of the ruins of a 
vast gothic cathedral. Its towers and porch and pillars 
may be as distinctly traced as if the ruins of ancient ma- 
sonry. Such winds as prevail here I might expect to blow 
anything into, or out of shape ; but I could hardly conceive 
it possible that such a grand object could be formed as it 
has been. Far above its steeple-like summits, was once 
the surface of this whole country around, but it has been 
gradually levelled, by the hand of time and the elements, 
and the butte, being a part more capable of resistance than 
the earth around it, remains a beautiful natural monument. 
The formation of the butte is of soft sandstone and its 
shape changes from year to year ; but those who saw it 
many years ago say it is not less remarkable now than it was 
when they first saw it. 

Along the road in this vicinity are found some very beau- 
tiful specimens of the moss agate, a variety of translucent 



56 FROM GEEEN RIVER 

quartz, with what appear as little sprigs of moss imbedded 
in it. These little moss-like particles are deposits of oxide 
of iron, which take place during the formation of the 
stone. The best specimens are highly prized for jewelry. 
Obtaining a very pretty fragment, I sent it to California to 
be cut, and set in a ring. I was quite surprised at the dif- 
ference made in the appearance of the stone by polishing. 
As found, it was quite opaque ; but when returned in the 
ring, it was almost transparent. I shall preserve this as a 
memento of a trip across the Rocky A4ountains. 

One day's march from Church Butte, and we were at 
Fort Bridger, which is the oldest military station passed on 
the march, save Fort Kearney. The site is that of a 
former trading-post of an old mountaineer of the name the 
Fort now bears. He has long been known to officers of 
the army on the frontier as a guide and interpreter. The 
present military post was established in 1858, after the 
arrival, of Gen. Albert Sidney's Johnston's expedition against 
the Mormons. It is situated 120 miles east of Salt Lake 
City, and the immediate site of the Fort is a locality occu- 
pied by Brigham Young and his followers when seeking 
their new Zion in Salt Lake Valley in 1847. A tall stone 
wall — a parallelogram in shape — built by the Mormons for 
protection against the Indians, still stands just below the 
parade ground. Black's Fork, to which I have before 
alluded as a tributary of Green River, rises in the Uintah 
Mountains, and before reaching the Fort divides into five 
branches, one of which passes directly through the post, 
affording an abundant supply of clear, cool, and the most 
delicious water, fresh from the mountain springs. About a 
mile below the post these branches unite again and form 
one stream, thence to the river where it empties. The fort 
is located in an extensive basin, surrounded by a succession 
of table-lands, rising one above the other, which are styled 
" benches." These benches are so level, and their slope so 
regular, that when observed from a short distance, they ap- 
pear not unlike an embankment for a railroad over a low 
flat country. The soil on the surface of this entire section of 



TO FORT BRIDGER. 57 

country is alluvium, and it bears other evidences of having 
been once the bottom of an inland sea. From anv of the 

J 

benches the Fort presents a neat and attractive appearance. 
After passing through what appeared an almost intermin- 
able region of sage-brush and grease-wood, the beautiful 
green of the small cotton-wood and willow trees, and the 
more beautiful wild roses then in full bloom on the banks 
of a little stream which runs by the side of the road lead- 
ing to the Fort, made the spot appear a very desirable one 
for an officer's station, were it not for its isolated position. 

This post was built by an officer no where better known 
or more highly appreciated for his sterling qualities than in 
New Orleans. I refer to Gen. Canby. The quarters are 
constructed of hewn logs, and those of the officers neatly 
plastered and provided with such conveniences as to afford 
a comfortable home to those who have to occupy them. 

In the vicinity game is abundant. The sage -hen — the 
largest known bird of the grouse family — are said to be 
more numerous here than in any part of the West. I have 
seen some almost the size of an ordinary wild turkey. Not 
many miles distant deer and elk are to be found, while the 
streams are full of the most beautiful brook trout, weighing 
from half a pound to a pound and a half. To an officer 
fond of hunting or fishing, the sport here afforded must in 
a great measure recompense for the want of society and 
little inconveniences incident to life at such a remote sta- 
tion ; and, indeed, taking all things in consideration, I felt like 
congratulating those who were to remain, for I considered 
it preferable to any post we passed on the route. 

Along our journey I made frequent inquiries of those I 
met concerning the military stations as we approached them ; 
and whenever I conversed with an individual who could 
give me any information about Fort Bridger, I was almost 
certain to hear during the conversation some such remark 
as the following: "And you will, find Judge Carter, the 
sutler, there, and a finer gentleman you never met." We 
met the Judge and he proved to be all that had been repre- 
sented. Judge Carter is Probate Judge of the County, 



58 FROM GREEN RIVER 

and came to this country with the army of Gen. Johnston, 
and has been the sutler at Fort Bridger since its establish- 
ment. For thirty years he has been with the army, and I 
found him a perfect encyclopedia of information concern- 
ing it. Mention the name of an officer of the old army and 
he will give you his whole history. We found him a high- 
toned, intelligent, and hospitable Virginia gentleman, uni- 
versally popular with all who associated with him, and de- 
servedly so. His store contains a larger assortment of 
every variety of goods and wares than any similar establish - 
ment west of the Missouri River. I was informed by good 
authority, that his purchases in the East last year amounted 
to $180,000. This large trade is by no means confined to 
those at the post, but is principally with miners and emi- 
grants. His success in business has doubtless surpassed 
his most sanguine expectations. 

I have seldom met with a more hospitable gentleman than 
Judge Carter, and there is always a plate at his table for 
a visitor at the post or a passing friend, the pleasure of 
entertaining a guest is the only remuneration he will receive 
for his liberality, be the entertained friend or stranger. 

Living on the reservation is another character, almost as 
generallv known as the Judge. I refer to an old trader and 
mountaineer named Robinson, but passing alvvavs under the 
sobriquet of " Uncle Jack." He has been living on the 
frontier for nearly forty years, and has adopted many of the 
habits of the aborigines, several of whom he has as wives. 
During the summer months his abode is an Indian lodge, 
and in the winter he is ensconced in a log cabin, a few miles 
from the fort. Uncle Jack, though for so many years 
without the bounds of civilization, has acquired none of that 
rudeness of manner, which it would seem must always nec- 
essarily follow his associations and mode of life. He is al- 
ways polite, kind in his feelings, and very entertaining in his 
conversation, having an exhaustless fund of incidents in the 
life of a mountaineer. He is generous, also, to a fault, and 
has accommodated persons with cattle and money amount- 
ing to many thousands of dollars, of which he will never 



'I FORT UiilDCiVM. 59 

receive a dime. There are always about his premises, from 
six to a dozen persons, not connected with his family (a few 
Indians always included), who live at his expense. Persons 
who know him intimately say he never complains of 
such imposition, and when advised by friends to send 
away such loafers, he always has some ready excuse 
for their idleness, and expresses the hope that they will soon 
be able to earn something wherewith to pay for their board. 
There are scores and hundreds of just such worthless indo- 
lent people scattered throughout the Far West. Some of 
the men have their families with them, and those who have 
not usually take squaws, and they eat and sleep away a mis- 
erable existence, apparently without any object in life. 

As may have been inferred from what I have said already, 
Uncle Jack is a natural gentleman — one of those noble char- 
acters who have the instincts and feelings of gentlemen, 
place them where you may. His associations and habits may 
degrade him, but you will always find cropping out those 
qualities which indicate him as intended for a different 
sphere in life, and mark what he would have been under 
different circumstances. 

Uncle Jack is now sixty-five years old, but is hale and 
hearty, though of course not so active as in early life. He 
has an iron constitution, and has passed through enough to 
break even that, I should think. He is exceedingly fond of 
his toddy, or the toddy minus the water and sugar. A gen- 
tleman told me that eight years ago he saw him take ten 
drinks of whiskey before breakfast, apparently without feel- 
ing the effects of them. But now it requires comparatively 
little to produce intoxication. He says it is ridiculous to 
talk about bad whiskey — that there is no such thing; some 
whiskey he pronounces better than others, but says he never 
saw any bad whiskey. If the reader could taste, or smell, 
some of the stuff distilled in this country, and known as 
" Valley Tan," he would rather doubt Uncle Jack's qualifi- 
cations as a "taster" for a liquor-store. He advises Juc'ge 
Carter to bring out a distillery next year — thinks there is a 
great waste of the raw material in making corn and wheat 



6o MORE ABOUT FORT BRIDGER 

into bread, as it would go much further if converted into a 
liquid. I said to him one day, 

" Uncle Jack, is the water in Smith's Fork (where he lives) 
as good as we have it here in Black's ?" 

" Indeed, sir, I can't tell you. I don't drink water. I never 
tasted it. You see, sir, I am getting old, and it might freeze 
up in me." 

But such remarks as these are made only to amuse a con- 
vivial party. He would never indulge in such to a stranger, 
or to any one, unless encouraged to do so. 

He has made a good deal of money trading with Indians 
and emigrants, and years ago at trapping, but has lost a good 
deal, also. His means, however, are sufficient to support 
him comfortably for the balance of his life; and while he 
owns a farm in Missouri, he is so well pleased with his 
present way of living, that he prefers to end his days on the 
frontier, notwithstanding the urgent appeal of relatives in 
the States to spend his declining years where he can have 
more of the comforts of life. 



CHAPTER IX 



MORE ABOUT FORT BRIDGER, AND A RIDE IN A SNOW- 
STORM. 

The Government reservation upon which Fort Bridger 
is located (there are always reserves about military posts), 
is twenty-five miles square, and embraces some of the rich- 
est and most desirably-located lands for agricultural purposes 
that I have seen on the western slope of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Some parts of it are now cultivated by the sutler, 
who has permission to do so from the War Department, 
and his crops demonstrate clearly the productiveness of 
the soil. The great drawback to this, as an agricultural 



AND A RIDE IN A SNOW-STORM. 61 

country, is the shortness of the seasons, and the very un- 
certain weather of the spring and early autumn. Garden 
vegetables cannot be cultivated with much hope of uniform 
success. Some seasons, as the last, for instance, are so fav- 
orable, that almost any vegetable raised in Ohio might be 
raised here ; but the probability is that for several succeed- 
ing years the late and early frosts would destroy all that 
might be planted. The sutler now confines his crops to 
oats and hay ; and even his oat crop was a failure in '65, 
though the yield is so large, that if a ready sale could be 
made at the present rates, the failure of an entire crop 
every fourth year would still make it profitable farming. 

The Bridger reservation has other resources than agri- 
cultural. Three miles from the Fort may be quarried, in 
any quantity desired, a silicious limestone well adapted for 
building purposes. As found, it is in regular layers of uni- 
form thickness, and the great blocks or slabs, as taken from 
the quarry, look as if they had been wrought into shape by 
the chisel and mallet of the mason. When first removed, 
the stone -is soft, and very easily dressed, but on exposure 
to the weather for a short time, becomes very hard. There 
are already several buildings at this post partially constructed 
of this stone ; and Major Grimes, the Post Quartermaster 
at Camp Douglas, who is also Supervising Quartermaster 
at this post, has submitted to the Quartermaster-General, 
plans and specifications for a very elaborate garrison to be 
built of it. 

Iron ore is found in the vicinity, and perhaps abounds on 
the reservation ; and coal likewise. About twenty miles 
distant is a large flowing spring of petroleum, with indica- 
tions of its existence in unlimited quantities in the country 
around. Within two miles of the post are large beds of 
gypsum, which might be easily calcined and converted into 
plaster of Paris on the spot; and about twelve miles to the 
south is a forest of heavy timber. Almost the entire re- 
servation might be irrigated from the two streams that run 
through it, while these streams could also be turned to 
account, by furnishing water-power for mills. 



62 MORE ABOUT PORT BRIDGER 

The reader will inquire why a country with so many re- 
sources is not settled. The reason is, because the most 
desirable of it is not open for settlement, but included in 
the large reservation. Various inspecting officers have 
already recommended that this reservation be cut down. 
If it should be done, and the land thrown open for pre-emp- 
tion, and a colony of industrious Germans, or any other 
thrifty people locate here, a few years would make a great 
change in the present desolate country. The passage of the 
Pacific Railroad through this valley or vicinity, would be 
another valuable stimulus to the development of the 
country. Anticipating this, Judge Carter has already es- 
tablished a saw-mill, and talks of bringing out another this 
year. 

Fort Bridger, upon our arrival, was garrisoned by three 
companies of ex-rebel soldiers, who enlisted in our army, 
when prisoners of war, for duty on the frontier, fighting 
Indians. . These troops are styled officially U. S. Volun- 
teers, but are more generally known as " Galvanized Yan- 
kees," a term that seemed not at all offensive to them. 
The post had been most shamefully abused. Troops that 
had been mustered out of service shortly before our arri- 
val, must have destroyed property from the mere desire to 
destroy ; but in some instances there was apparently a little 
utility in their destructiveness, as they demolished buildings 
for firewood. Many of the officers just on the eve of 
leaving service, winked at the vandalism of their men, 
while others were unable to control them, if they had any 
desire to do so. 

Everybody in this section of country seemed to have 
become completely demoralized. Citizens and soldiers 
were alike in this respect. Some of the latter were so re- 
garded in the eastern armies, and became ten times worse 
when they were sent on the plains against their wishes. 
Men stole and officers stole ! That is their own testimony. 
I was not here to judge for myself; but I have known in- 
dividuals who formerly held commissions, give to each 
other the worst of characters. I might one day meet a 



AND A RIDE IN A SNOW-STORM. 63 

former Capt. A, and he would tell me that Capt B, when 
Quartermaster, swindled the Government out of thousands, 
by fraudulent vouchers. The next day, perchance, I might 
meet the former Capt. B, and he would tell me that Capt. 
A, when Commissary of Subsistence, was the greatest 
scoundrel in Utah — that he robbed the Government of 
bacon and flour enough to last his family for five years, &c. 
The third day I might meet the two together, and they 
would both unite in telling about how Capt. C stole wagon 
tires and chains to fix his mill in Rush Valley, and sold 
Government horses to himself for a mere song. One offi- 
cer would wilfully deceive another, apparently for the 
morbid pleasure he would take in getting him in trouble, 
and then tell it as a good joke. 

Disciplined troops and honest officers were not sent to 
this country any too soon ; and I fancy that Major Burt, 
when he assumed command at Fort Bridger, had not the 
easiest task in the world in attempting to straighten out 
things. I must in justice to some of the late officers 
remark, that they were not all of this class, by any means. 
Several that I have met have proved themselves to be gen- 
tlemen, and honored the positions they held. 

The locality of Fort Bridger was made a memorable one 
to me on an occasion subsequent to the march I am describ- 
ing, and I will here make another gap in my narrative to re- 
fer to the event, and record an exciting adventure in a snow- 
storm. 

On a clear bright morning in the month of October a 
party of seven, three ladies, a little son of one of them, and 
three gentlemen, including myself, started from Camp 
Douglas for Fort Bridger, on a pleasure trip. When we 
started the temperature, as well as the hazy appearance of 
the atmosphere over the whole valley, indicated that de- 
lightful season, Indian Summer, which is so much enjoyed 
on the Atlantic coast, and elsewhere in the States. Being 
rather thickly clad, before entering the mountain pass I 
removed my vest as necessary for comfort. Travelling in 
ambulances, as we did, without a change of horses, it is a 



64 MORE ABOUT FORT BRIDGER 

three-days' journey. Before completing the first, however, 
we were so much higher, and the temperature so much 
lower, that I not only returned my vest, but found an over- 
coat quite a desirable addition to my clothing. The second 
day was cold, damp, cloudy, and altogether very disagreeable. 
And as we started on the third, the clouds still hung about 
the mountains, and had already deposited on the range to 
the south a coating of snow. Only the skirts of the cloud 
came over us, however, and we escaped the violence of the 
storm. 

Unfortunately the axle of one of our ambulances (we 
had two) broke the evening before, and it had been repaired 
in such a way as to leave some doubts as to its safety for 
the remainder of the journey. The ladies, therefore, were 
put into the more serviceable one, and we of the other sex 
occupied the disabled one. This was rather a quakerish 
way of dividing up the party ; but considering all things, 
for a fifty-miles' ride, it was thought best, and none of the 
gentlemen would plead guilty to the charge of want of 
gallantry. 

Our crippled wagon made the journey slow and tedious, 
and as the sun was getting low, and another storm threat- 
ened, the ladies disregarded our injunction not to get far 
ahead, lest either wagon should meet with an accident, and 
they hurried on hoping to make Fort Bridger before dark. 
The storm commenced' about sundown, when we were 
fifteen miles from the post. The whereabouts of the ladies 
we knew nothing of; but as the night was threatening, we 
hoped theyhad stopped at the next ranch. When we 
reached it we ascertained that they passed about three-quar- 
ters of an hour before. It was only twelve miles thence to 
the Fort, and as they had a good team, and a careful driver, 
familiar with the road, we hoped that they would make it at 
an early hour. A consultation was then held as to whether 
or not we should stop with Mr. Burnes, the owner of the 
ranch, for the night, or go on to the Fort. Mr. Burnes, we 
ascertained, had two rooms in his cabin, which were occu- 
pied by two families, consisting of about a dozen souls, more 



AND A RIDE IN A SNOW-STORM. 65 

or less. We decided to go. The number of necessary bed- 
fellows, or room-fellows at best, if we remained, may have 
influenced us somewhat in our decision, and as the storm 
was increasing we hurried off. 

Ascending a hill we were upon a broad plain extending 
to the Fort. Here the storm wa> then ten-fold more severe 
than before, as the bench had protected us. The wind was 
from the east, and now directly in our faces. The pelting 
snow in the eyes of the mules made it difficult to keep them 
in the road, which every minute was becoming more ob- 
scure. The curtains of the ambulance broke from their 
fastenings, and the snow was driven furiously through it, 
while the night was rapidly growing colder. Our driver 
soon became so benumbed as to be scarcely able to hold 
the reins, and it was necessary for one of the party to walk 
in front of the mules to distinguish the road. 

It became evident that the driver must be relieved, or he 
would freeze, and as Lieutenant S. had had more experience 
in driving four animals than Mr. Dean or myself, he took 
the reins, and we wrapped the driver in our only buffalo 
robe. The mules were jaded, and to get them along re- 
quired the free application of the whip, which the Lieuten- 
ant did not fail to make, together with some expletives 
which would probably have been omitted if the ladies had 
been present. In a short time our new driver had to desist, 
and the original resumed his place, only to relinquish it 
again in a few minutes, however. About this time Mr. 
Dean, our pilot, discovered that we were off the road. The 
storm howled furiously, and so did a pack of hungry wolves 
that followed us, doubtless expecting that we would soon 
become their prey. We knew that we were within six 
miles of the Fort, but we might as well have been sixty, so 
far as our comfort that night was concerned, for it was evi- 
dent that we could not reach it. The only thing to be 
done was to lay up for the night, so we unhitched the mules, 
and tied them to the leeward of the ambulance. We could 
make no fire, as we had no wood cut, nor an ax to chop 
any, and if we had had both, would then have been no bet- 

4* 



66 MORE ABOUT THE BRIDGER 

ter off, for we had no matches. There we were, four of us, 
on an open plain, in a fearful storm, on a dark night. Our 
ambulance afforded but little protection — more to the 
mules on the outside than to those inside — but by lying 
"spoon-fashion" we all managed to get in, and put the one 
robe over us. Unfortunately it was not large enough to 
completely cover the outside parties. Lieutenant S. was 
one of these, and lay with his back exposed on the side next 
to the mules. Having had no supper the animals ate the 
curtains from the ambulance, and next took a piece out 
of the back of the Lieutenant's overcoat. Mr. Dean 
was nearly frozen, and he lay so still that we often called 
him to learn whether he was dead or alive. Being one 
of the middle ones I suffered less, but spent the night 
in decidedly unpleasant thoughts. I repeated over and over 
again " Excelsior," though I felt not the least ambition to 
emulate the youth's courage in a similar adventure, nor did 
I very seriously think that I would meet a similar fate. 
Lieutenant S. was asked the next day by a lady what his 
thoughts were about, when he replied that he spent the 
greater part of the night in repeating the Lord's Prayer, 
which certainly was not in keeping with his audible ex- 
pressions when he discovered that the mules had eaten a hole 
in the back of his coat. 

After what appeared as an almost interminable night, 
the day finally dawned, but the storm had abated none of 
its fury. As soon as it was light enough to see the road, 
which could be distinguished by the aid of the telegraph 
poles, we attempted to hitch up the mules, but all were so 
benumbed as to render it impossible to do so. Then fol- 
lowed another council of war, or council of safety, and it was 
decided that we would leave the driver, with the robe,which 
was sufficient to keep one man warm, and the others would 
walk to the post. Before we had gone three hundred yards 
Mr. Dean, fearing he would give out, returned to share the 
robe with the driver. Lieutenant S. and myself pushed for- 
ward, wading through snow-drifts three feet deep, and 
with the wind directly in our faces, driving the snow-flakes 



AND A RIDE IN A SNOW-STORM. 67 

against the skin with such force as to sting like the prick of 
needles. 

It seemed a long, long six miles to the post, and more 
than once the fear was expressed that during the night the 
wind had turned our ambulance around, and that we were 
going from the Fort instead of toward it. The falling snow 
was so thick that no landmarks could be seen, and our minds 
were not at rest concerning the direction we were pursuing, 
until we reached one of the branches of Black's Fork, near 
the post. It was wide, knee-deep, and running rapidly, but 
that was no time for hesitation, and we waded it immedi- 
ately. Before we had walked ten rods further our pants were 
as stiff as boards from the ice on them. Two other streams 
were crossed in like manner, and we reached the Fort* 
We then commenced thawing out ; first the ice and snow 
on my beard, so that I could open my mouth, and then I 
drank a cup of strong, hot ginger-tea to thaw out my stom- 
ach, if in the condition "Uncle Jack" was afraid his would 
become if he drank water. I then changed all my clothes, 
giving the body a good rubbing, and after drinking a cup of 
hot coffee, and eating a hot beefsteak, I was surprised to 
find myself so comfortable. Until several minutes after I com- 
menced undergoing the process of thawing out, I had not 
doubted the safe arrival of the ladies in the garrison the 
night before, and was expecting as soon as I could open 
my mouth, so as to speak intelligibly, to call upon them 
and talk over the adventures of the night. The reader can 
imagine of my surprise and horror, when the husband of one 
of them rushed into the room where I was, to inquire about 
his wife, for their ambulance had not arrived. I could rea- 
sonably account for their absence in no other way but that 
they had lost the road and might have wandered far away. 
A number of soldiers were immediately mounted and sent 
in all directions (the storm still prevailing) in search of the 
missing party. An anxious hour to a father, a husband and 
a brother, as well as to myself, in whose charge the ladies 
were placed, followed, but they were found and brought 
safely in. They had come within a mile of the post the 



68 MORE ABOUT FORT BRIDGER 

night before, when the horses took a road leading from it, 
and after wandering about for an hour or two, they stop- 
ped for the night as we did. Fortunately they had a close 
ambulance and several robes, and suffered comparatively 
little from cold, though they imagined that they were so near 
freezing as to render it dangerous for them to sleep, and 
they kept awake all night. 

A party was sent to the relief of Mr. Dean and the dri- 
ver, and they too reached the post safely, the former ex- 
periencing but little inconvenience ; but the driver had his 
feet and ears so badly frozen as to confine him to the 
hospital for several weeks. 

The thermometer stood at 8° above zero the morning we 
got in, and I have no idea how it stood during the night, 
but it was the wind that made the cold so intolerable. I have 
seen the themometer at the same place indicate 15 below 
zero when calm, and it did not appear near so cold. The storm 
was pronounced by old residents the most severe they had 
ever seen in that locality. I learned a lesson from this trip, 
and shall never start on a hundred and twenty-five mile jour- 
ney in this country again without being better provided for 
protection against cold. It is a good rule to observe in 
these wild regions, whenever a storm overtakes a traveller, 
for him to find some protected spot, if possible, stop, build 
a fire, and wait until the storm ceases. However familiar 
with the country one may be, he is liable to get lost if he 
undertakes to travel in a severe snow-storm. 

A carriage-ride of one hundred and twenty-five miles in 
the States, even with comfortable stopping-places for the 
night, would seem in these days a great undertaking ; but 
after a journey of twelve hundred miles over the plains, and 
camping out every night for three months, one feels a per- 
fect contempt for distance, and even to the ladies a three- 
days' ride through the mountains is as a picnic excursion 
would have been the year before in civilization, nor are the 
accommodations afforded by the way such as are to be had 
at the Fifth Avenue. Indeed, we passed but one hotel be- 
tween the Missouri River and Salt Late City. Travellers 



AND A RIDE IN A SNOW-STORM. 69 

in the Far West discard luxury. If one desires to sleep under 
a roof, he can be accommodated at any of the stations or 
ranches ; but usually travellers sleep, in or under their wagons 
except in very severe weather. 

As an example of the accommodations to be had, I will 
describe what was furnished our party on the trip just re- 
ferred to. We drove one day over fifty miles of the one 
hundred and twenty-five, to reach a place that was con- 
sidered a very desirable one to stop at over night. We 
reached the station just at dark, and were tired enough to 
content ourselves with whatever might offer. I introduced 
myself to the keeper and made known our wishes, when he 
promised to do the best he could for us. We soon dis- 
covered that the " best," in the way of accommodations, 
was very limited, and there was not much danger of any ill- 
feeling growing out of a selection of rooms, for there were 
but two in the house, a chamber and a room of a very 
general character. We had all, long before, lost fastidious- 
ness about such things, and made the best of what offered. 
The ladies were given the chamber, or rather a share 
with others of their sex already at the station. I have 
heard of tenement-houses in New York, where several 
families occupied one large room, and the space allowed for 
each marked off with chalk on the floor; but on the night 
referred to, there was not space enough between the pallets 
for a chalk-mark. Before the last could be spread, the 
occupants of the room for the night had to collect inside, 
for there was not space enough left for the door to open. 

In the general room adjoining, the gentlemen were 
allowed the soft side of some cotton-wood boards that com- 
posed the floor, together with a few blankets and a buffalo 
robe, while the proprietor packed himself away in the bed 
of a wagon back of the house. Fatigue is a most excellent 
soporific, and in the condition we were half an hour after 
lying down, so far as comfort was concerned, we may as 
well have been where we were, as between immaculate 
linen sheets on a fine hair mattress. 

Such is the way travellers fare in a new country j but at 



7 o MORE ABOUT FORT BRIDGER. 

the risk of being tedious on this subject, I will record the 
experiences of another night out, in the same country. On 
this occasion I had but one companion, and that a gentle- 
man. It was fortunate that it was so. We were about six 
or eight miles from our station, travelling in a sleigh, and 
just at dark our establishment broke down. I meet with 
such accidents, and lose the road oftener than any other 
officer in the army. Remembering my experience in a 
snow-storm, about which I have here told the reader, and 
there being a prospect of one overtaking us if we started to 
walk in, we decided to spend the night with an old 
mountaineer whose cabin was not far away. We led the 
horses to the place, and of course we were accommodated 
as we desired, or rather as we could be. This ranch, 
unfortunately, had but one room, in which they cooked, ate, 
slept, &c. &c. The landlord occupied a bed on a rude 
bedstead in one corner, and as we entered we discovered 
several lying around on the dirt floor covered with robes, 
but as there was no light, except such as was emitted from 
a few embers on the hearth, we could not distinguish who 
they were, or how many. The son of the proprietor, 
whose mother is a squaw, furnished a few dirty robes, and 
we stretched out in front of the fire, after adding a few 
sticks which blazed up, and, to some extent, illuminated 
the room. / thought of sleep, but that was as near as I got 
to it. In a few minutes others commenced dropping in 
one by one, and soon I found that we were occupying a 
room with at least a dozen dirty buck Indians, squaws and 
pappooses. Added to the real discomfort of lying on an 
uneven piece of ground, were those of my imagination, and 
a peculiar sensitiveness of my olfactory nerves, and the 
thoughts of what surrounded me. 

We stood it like martyrs until two or three o'clock, when 
we woke up the proprietor, borrowed a couple of saddles, 
and started homeward, determined to wander about the 
country the remainder of the night, if we couldn't find the 
wav, rather than remain. 

For about three days, I was constantly smelling smoked 



FROM I'ORT BRIDGER &c. 71 

buckskins, Indian paint and Indian filth. A careful ex- 
amination of my linen, proved that I did leave the cabin 
more numerous than when I entered, which I feared was the 
case. 



CHAPTER X. 

FROM FORT ERIDGER TO WANSHIP SETTLEMENT. 

At Fort Bridger we left two other companies, which re- 
duced our column to a very small remnant of the large 
command that left P'ort Leavenworth. 

Only three companies remained, and these were destined 
for Camp Douglas, where our long but pleasant march was 
to terminate. Two ladies also left us here — Mrs. Major 
Burt, whose husband was to assume command, and Miss 
Reynolds, her sister. These ladies had been universally 
esteemed, and their society highly prized. Mrs. Burt was 
regarded by every one as an example of what an army 
officer's wife should be. 

Directly west of the post is an elevation of peculiar 
appearance, known as Bridger's Butte, and also as the Flat 
Mountain. It is a piece of table-land, its surface several 
square miles in extent, and as flat and smooth as the 
country between New Orleans and Lake Ponchartrain, 
and of an elevation of several hundred feet above the fort. 
The ascent to it appeared easy, but I found considerable 
difficulty in making it, though the prospect afforded from so 
elevated a position well repaid me for the trouble. The 
entire valley, with all the bench-lands, and the mountains 
surrounding these, many miles away, could be taken in at 
a glance. 

It was the most extended view I ever had, and the 
beauty of the landscape was hardly surpassed by the pros- 



72 FROM FORT BRIDGER. 

pect afforded from the Black Hills which I endeavored to de- 
scribe in a previous letter. To the south and east, was the 
long range of Uintah Mountains, and far to the west rose 
the majestic Wasach. Through the valley could be traced 
the courses of the streams, by the growth of small trees 
upon their banks, and off in the direction of the Uintahs was 
the large forest of pines, cedars and cotton-wood, to which 
I have before referred. When beholding such scenes I 
would wish for a moment for the genius of the painter or 
the poet, but I would soon after thank God that I was not 
a genius in any profession. 

A few miles further west we come to the Little and Big 
Muddy streams — very inappropriately named for brooks run- 
ning over pebbly beds with water as clear as a crystal. At 
other seasons, and perhaps in other places at the same sea- 
son, the water is not so clear, and as they were probably first 
seen by the old mountaineer Bridger when muddy, their 
classic misnomer will ever attach to them. 

Not far from the Muddies there is a mineral spring, the 
waters of which is strongly impregnated with magnesium, 
and contains also other mineral properties, and is of a very 
low temperature. There we encamped for the night. The 
next day our journey lay over a more uneven country, and 
we passed Quaking-asp Hill, the highest elevation crossed 
by the stage-road between the Missouri River and Salt Lake, 
and I am told has an altitude of more than eight thousand 
feet. The hill derives its name from a species of poplar 
which grows on the summit, the leaves of which h^ve a 
constant tremulous motion in the wind. From the brow 
of the hill there is considerable descent, within the distance 
of a mile, and thence onward we found a succession of hills 
and mountains, either to be crossed in our journey or con- 
tiguous to the road. Beyond Quaking-asp the next sight 
that attracted my attention was that of the worm fences 
and cultivated fields on Bear River. I had seen nothing of 
the kind west of Kansas, and I was carried back in my re- 
collection to the farms of old Virginia and Maryland, and 
was led to a contemplation of the undeveloped agricultural 



TO WANSHIP SETTLEMENT. 73 

resources of the great western country over which we had 
marched, much of which could be made to yield as abun- 
dantly as the farms in the valley of the Shenandoah or the 
fields in the valley before me. 

On our march we have crossed streams that flow into 
the Gulf of Mexico, others that send their waters to the 
Pacific, and now we cross one that might be said to empty 
into the clouds. Perhaps they all might, but this particularly, 
as it flows into the Great Salt Lake, where there is no out- 
let, and where the evaporation is so rapid that the water dis- 
appears about as fast as it enters. 

Not many miles beyond Bear River, I observed in the 
side and near the top of a tall hill an opening, which proved 
to be Cache Cave, a place long familiar to the mountaineer 
of this region, and which had often afforded shelter to the 
passing emigrant and hunter during the fearful storms which 
so often prevail in this mountainous country during the 
winter. I rode to the mouth and, dismounting, entered and 
found the cave to measure about thirty-five feet each way, 
and eight feet high in the centre. The names of hundreds 
of visitors were cut in the soft sandstone in which the cave 
is formed, and I noticed among them a Clara and a Jen- 
nie , but I will give no further publicity to the fair fame- 
seekers. It seemed an anomaly in the order of things to 
find the names of the gentler sex in this wild region, asso- 
ciated with those of the rough and hardy of the other 
gender. 

Such a continuation of wild and grand scenery as had been 
afforded on the march from Bridger I had not witnessed on 
any previous part of our journey, and what yet awaits my 
description, before entering Salt Lake Valley, so increases in 
grandeur and sublimity that I shrink from the task of at- 
tempting it. Descriptions from far abler pens than my 
own, have fallen far short of my appreciations of the scenes 
when I beheld them, that I feel inclined to leave the reader 
at the head of Echo Canon, and have him join me again in 
the vicinity of the Mormon's " Zion," when I might say 
something about the works of art, and leave the awful gran- 



74 FROM FORT BRIDGER 

deur of nature as seen in some parts of the route I passed 
over not further alluded to, hoping that he may at some fu- 
ture time have an opportunity to see what I saw, but am 
unable to describe. However, we must glance at some of 
the salient points as we pass along. 

Descending a somewhat steep hill we entered a val- 
ley, the head of Echo Canon, which runs thence 
to the Weber River, a distance of a little more 
than twenty miles. On either side the land rises 
by gentle slopes (but here and there more abruptly) into 
high hills ; and as we proceeded down it, the graceful declivi- 
ties on the northern side gradually disappeared, and perpen- 
dicular bluffs of a conglomerate of red clay and pebbles, 
from four hundred to six hundred feet high, were found in- 
stead. At the commencement the canon is nearly a mile 
wide, but its width gradually lessens until it .becomes almost 
a gorge ; and on the south the hills, which continue sloping 
on their surface, become steeper and taller. 

This canon is the great highway through the mountains 
to Salt Lake Valley, and it was here, about its narrow gorges, 
that the Mormon army was stationed in '57, to prevent 
the onward march of General Johnston to " Zion." Their 
position was on the north side of the cafion, and on the tall 
bluffs they erected their rifle-pits, and at the most precipi- 
tous points immense boulders were placed, in such positions 
as to be easily rolled upon the heads of those who might at- 
tempt to pass below. They also constructed dams across 
the pass, down which flows a stream so as to flood it to a 
considerable depth. Some of the breast works and dams still 
remain. While the precautions thus taken would have ef- 
fectually prevented the onward march of a body of troops 
along the road, the position of the Saint army was an entirely 
untenable one. A body of infantry from the hills on the 
south, which perfectly commanded the rude works, and to 
the possession of which no obstacles were thrown in the way, 
could in a short time have dislodged the enemy. But it 
will be remembered that no fighting occurred, and had our 
forces approached within threatening distance, the Prophet 



TO WANSHIP SETTLEMENT. 75 

would doubtless have had a vision in the night and moved 
his deluded followers to a place of greater security. 

The only casualty among the Mormons, that I know of, 
during their short campaign in the canon, was the killing of 
a saint by one of his comrades, under the following circum- 
stances. The man stood upon a tall cliff, and shouted to 
his companions below to shoot him if they could. It is 
more difficult to correctly estimate a distance perpendicularly 
than horizontally, and the man on the bluff thought he was 
beyond range, and so did the man who shot at him, in all 
probability, but the ball took effect and killed him on the 
spot. 

Passing this part of the canon amidst the shouts of the 
soldiers, for the reverberating effect, we soon came near its 
mouth, where we encamped. Opposite our tents the bluffs 
and hills were as high as elsewhere, and during the after- 
noon some of the soldiers climbed to the highest points and 
shouted jocularly to their comrades below about the appear- 
ance of Trinity Church spire and the Astor House, from 
their elevated stand-point. 

The name of the canon is well taken. The echo along 
the lower part of it where the bluffs are highest is loud and 
perfect, and where we encamped the most remarkable effect 
followed the beating of drums and the sounding of bugles. 
With the former all was confusion of sounds, and with the 
latter, when the short notes were sounded, not much more 
harmony existed ; but when the bugle calls were long and 
slow the perfect repetition of each note in the echo was 
heard with fine effect. But I failed to appreciate any 
beauty in the call for tents to be struck on the morning of 
our departure. All the luxuries, in the way of diet, with 
which I started from Leavenworth, had been consumed, and 
a few weeks before signs of scurvy appearing among the 
men, the officers had turned over to those affected the last 
of their potatoes — the only fresh vegetables then remaining. 
Our bill of fare had consequently become rather curtailed 
as to variety; but in the vicinity 1 obtained lettuce, onions, 
radishes, new potatoes, eggs, butter, &c, and the morning 



7 6 FROM FORT BRIDGER 

referred to my cook prepared a breakfast of broiled trout, 
boiled eggs, fried potatoes, radishes, hot cakes fit for royalty, 
and when in the midst of it, the loud and familiar sound of 
the bue;le and its reverberations told that the tents must 
fall. Would the reader have been less disgusted than I 
was? But I finished my breakfast as they lifted the tent 
over me. Afterward, when mounted on my horse and 
leisurely smoking my pipe, I better enjoyed the effect of the 
echo to the call to which the soldiers have applied the 
words : 

"I know you are tired, but still you must go, 

So shoulder your musket and march along slow.** 

On the trip to Fort Bridger, that terminated in an 
adventure in a snow-storm, to which I referred in my 
last, I was much amused by a teamster we met in 
this canon. Coming to a miry place, our ambulances 
were halted for me to select the best crossing, and at 
the same time a rather Hoosier-like fellow, with two 
or three wagons, approached the opposite side of the 
slouo-h. I had about decided where to attempt the cross- 
ing when he came up, but thinking I might profit by 
his larger experience, we had a conversation as follows : 

" This is rather a bad place, sir," said I. 

" Well — yes — 'tis a little damp." (We afterward found 
the liquid mud to be a foot and a half deep.) 

" But don't you think it safer to attempt to cross here 
tha 1 above ? " 

" Well — yes — you might try." 

" Do you think it safe to make the attempt with the 
ladies in the ambulance ? " 

u Well — yes — don't see any mules' ears, or wagon bows 
sticking out — somebody has crossed, or gone clean under." 

" Seriously, don't you think there is a firm bottom under 
this mud ? " 

"Well — yes — if you go down deep enough to reach it." 

" Joking aside, my friend, would you advise me to attempt 
it here or at the crossing above?" 



TO WANSHIP SETTLEMENT. yj 

"Well — don't know — this is narrow, and if you go 
under here, then you know exactly where your wagon has 
gone down." 

"I see I can't get much out of you — Do you intend to 
cross here ? " 

"You bet." 

There was more in the fellow's manner and tone of 
voice that was amusing, than in what he said, and he caused 
one of the ladies to laugh away a headache. We crossed 
without difficulty, but when our laconic stranger attempted 
it, in the same place, his loaded wagons sank deep, and the 
first stuck fast, when we had a good laugh at his expense, 
while he was doubling teams to pull it out. 

On the Weber I beheld still more familiar and more beau- 
tiful sights than I observed on Bear River. In addition to 
fields of wheat, barley and oats which grew in great luxuri- 
ance, the vegetable gardens at the station-house were filled 
with all the table vegetables cultivated in the same, and 
more southern latitudes in the States. The green lettuce 
and the onion-tops appeared more beautiful as they grew 
there because of the contrast with the wild rugged hills and 
bluffs close by, and the hills and bluffs appeared more wild 
and sublime because of the contrast with the tender cultivat- 
ed plants at their base. 

The Weber is a stream abounding with trout, and some 
of them larger than in the streams near Fort Bridger, to 
which I referred in my last. Though we are supposed to 
have started on the march I must tell the reader of my 
trout-fishing the day before. It was in the Weber where I 
indulged in that sport for the first time in my life — 
others of the command had caught them in several places 
further east. 

I had heard of trout-fishing from early boyhood, but had 
never before been in a country where they are caught, and I 
longed to indulge in the sport. So during the afternoon we 
were in camp near the stream I prepared my tackle and 
went alone to try my luck. I had scarcely got my line into 
the water when it was grabbed with all the dash which 



78 FROM FORT BRIDGER 

characterizes the bite of the trout, and with a jerk as 
quick I threw the speckled beauty on the bank. It was an 
epoch in my life ! I had caught my first trout ! And I 
was as delighted as a little girl with her first doll on a 
Christmas morning. Subsequent to this event I have in- 
dulged freely in the sport, and on one occasion I knew of 
fifty-four being caught in a few hours by one individual. 

The station at the mouth of the canon is kept by a Mor- 
mon, and several of the same faith live in the vicinity. My 
first impressions of them for thrift and industry were favor- 
able. I purchased vegetables of a " Saint," who is " the 
husband of one wife" (not at least one, as they explain St. 
Paul's injunction to mean), or rather I purchased them of the 
wife who appeared to be the better man of the two ; and I 
would here add that this is the only instance I have ob- 
served in my intercourse with Mormons where the woman 
was treated as if she had any rights whatever, or her judg- 
ment and opinion respected in the least. But of the Mor- 
mons more hereafter. 

Around the stage stations, everywhere from Atchison 
to Salt Lake .City, large flocks of the common black- 
birds were constantly collected ; but at the mouth of 
Echo Canon I saw for the first time those of the 
magpie species. They are larger than the common black- 
bird in the States, with a larger tail, in which white feathers 
predominate, and parts of their wings are of the same. The 
white feathers looked whiter and the black blacker because 
of the association of the two. It is too pretty a bird for 
one of its habits, which are the same as the crow's. 
Ravens are very numerous in this country, also ; but the 
reader must not suppose that the ravens of the Rocky 
Mountain regions, and the crows that are such a nuisance 
to the farmers in Virginia, and elsewhere in the South, are 
the same bird. Of course they belong to the same family ; 
but the former are larger, have a broader and stouter bill, 
and are of a more glossy black, nor do they make quite 
such unmusical sounds, or so many of them, as the crows. 
The above, with a few turtle-doves, were the only things of 



TO WANSHIP SETTLEMENT. 79 

the bird kind in this section of country, so the guns were 
packed away, and fishing rods and lines took their places. 

The Weber River, along which our route lay for several 
miles, flows into the Dead Sea of America a short distance 
below the mouth of the Bear River. Along this stream 
there are numerous farms, and nearly the whole country, as 
far as we marched, was cut up by fences. The farms here 
are irrigated from streams that flow into the river. The 
stream down Echo, Chalk creek, a few miles south of it, and 
other mountain streams, are made useful in this way. The 
grain fields were just ripening for harvest when we passed, 
and in this valley wheat, oats and rye yield almost as lux- 
uriantly as in the most fertile parts of the valley of the 
Great Salt Lake, of which I shall say something in a future 
letter. 

Passing southward we soon came to a settlement of the fol- 
lowers of Brigham, known as Coalville, and so named be- 
cause of the coal found there, and is the source from which 
Salt Lake City is supplied with that fuel. It requires to be 
hauled fifty miles. 

Coalville contains about seventy-five small houses, and 
has a population of about five hundred, including children, 
who largely predominate. Most of th^ houses are of logs, 
very roughly constructed, but there are also several neat 
adobe residences and stores. I was pleased with the ap- 
pearance of one of the buildings, and approaching I read on 
a slab over the door, " Coalville Meeting-house." I felt 
disposed to respect the deluded people for setting apart the 
best house in their village as a place of worship ; but when 
passing through the place, on another occasion, I observed 
hanging by the side of the door of their " Meeting-house" 
a variety of specimens of the art of the photographer. 
Whether or not the house had been converted into a photo- 
graphic establishment as a more profitable use to put it to-, 
or the artist and priest used it jointly, I am unable to say, 
but am inclined to the opinion that the minister was also the 
photographer, and had combined his spiritual and secular 
interest in an economical way. 



80 FROM WANSHIP 

A few miles below Coalville we passed another Mormon 
settlement of more recent origin, the name of which I did 
not learn. From Echo Caiion to this point the land along 
the river is fenced in, though but little of it is cultivated. 
Crossing the river we marched to at hird settlement, called 
Wanship. 



CHAPTER XL . 

FROM WANSHIP TO SALT LAKE VALLEY. 

Wanship is a Mormon village of about three hundred in- 
habitants, and is located on the overland stage route, near 
the Weber River. It consists of houses along both sides 
of the road, and the gardens attached to each, like in most 
country villages, causes it to stretch out to a considerable 
length. 

A German has here established a lager beer brewery 
for the accommodation of travellers whose Tuetonic tastes 
lead them to indulge in this drink, which, by the way, is 
fast becoming a national one in this country. I took a glass 
or two, and I think I must have done so simply because it 
is called by the same name as the good beer in St. Louis, 
of which I was so fond — certainly not because I relished 
the poor stuff. 

Near the upper end of the village I stopped at the house 
of one of the settlers, whose garden presented a fine appear- 
ance, to replenish my stock of vegetables for the remainder 
of the journey. I was received by a stout English woman 
who treated me courteously, and signified her willingness 
to accommodate me with a portion of anything the garden 
produced. She called for " Sister," when a much rougher 
looking Danish woman appeared and accompanied me to the 
garden to gather the vegetables. I afterward learned that 



TO SALT LAKE VALLEY. 81 

the " Sister " was also the wife of her husband, and I was 
for the first time under the roof of a polygamist. Both 
lived in the same house, but their duties appeared to be 
very distinct. The English woman appeared to be the Mary 
of the household, and the Dane the Martha. I had no ac- 
count of their conjugal history, but am very much inclined 
to think that the former was the last espoused. The Dane 
appeared more like a woirjan hired to work in the garden, 
and her labor was certainly worth more than the cost of her 
subsistence and clothing. The vegetables being ready I asked 
the bill, when the Dane looked as if she was somewhat 
doubtful as to the capacity of my pocket-book, and hesitated, 
but the "Sister" thought it had better be left to the gen- 
tleman to pay what he pleased. I insisted on the amount 
being named, and then appreciated the diplomacy of the lib- 
eral (?) party, for I should have never offered so small a sum. 
After drinking a glass of buttermilk I started, and as we 
did so the English "Sister" expressed the hope that an of- 
ficer who was with me might have his eyes opened and be- 
come a bright shining light in the Church of Latter Day 
Saints — " and who knows but such may be the case ! " said 
she. In my conversation she seemed to feel no interest. 
She appeared to be the happiest duplicate wife I ever saw. 
Her Danish colleague was by no means so jovial, and though 
she appeared resigned to her fate, looked by no means con- 
tented or happy. 

* Running by the village on to the Weber River, where it 
empties, is a clear, beautiful stream, fitly named Silver 
Creek, and but a short distance above we entered the mouth 
of a canon through which the stream flows, and from it 
the canon takes its name. It was narrow from the first, 
and the tall hills on either side rose to a greater altitude 
than those along Echo Canon, to which I referred in my 
last, but they are nowhere abrupt and precipitate. The 
base of the hills ran almost to the banks of the stream ; 
the road was cut in the slope on the western side, and in 
order to make it wide enough for a single wagon, in some 
places it was necessary to cut a perpendicular bank of ten t 



82 FROM WANSHIP 

or twelve feet. The dashing mail-coach is the terror of 
those who drive light vehicles along these narrow places. 
Throughout the canon the range of tall hills on both sides 
was quite destitute of gorges or abrupt cliffs, and many 
with neatly rounded dome-like summits. The canon be- 
ing so narrow, where there was a somewhat short curve in 
its course the hills on the two sides appeared to meet and 
terminate the pass, and more than once was I completely 
deceived, thinking it impossible to go much further without 
ascending a very steep hill, but I looked in vain for the 
road up its sides, and going to the spot, found it to continue 
on as before, only changing its direction. The windings of 
the canon added to the beauty of the scenery. But the 
most attractive feature was the beautiful creek. Along it, 
and it was constantly in sight, the green leaves of the wil- 
low, and the shrubbery growing on its banks, contrasted 
beautifully with the silvery waters that glided by them, and 
a more lovely sight of this character I never beheld. In 
places the water ran over pebbles and boulders, which could 
be seen as distinctly as if through the clearest crystal, and 
here and there a little cascade leaped from a projecting rock 
to form an eddy below, so inviting as a lurking-place for the 
mountain trout. And gushing from the hill by the roadside 
were numerous springs, rivalling, if possible, the clear waters 
of the creek. Amid such beauties of nature we marched 
about eight miles. It was the season best suited for seeing 
the canon with its greatest attractions. All nature seemed 
to conspire to render the scene grand and lovely ! 

Leaving the canon we passed over a ridge to Parley's 
Park, a wide valley or basin, nearly surrounded by mountains 
and hills. It might be easily irrigated, and the whole might 
be put under a high degree of cultivation, provided the 
climate is not too cold, for like Fort Bridger this locality is 
very high. This park, as well as the canon, which we will 
reach presently, are named after a prominent Mormon, 
Parley Pratt, once one of the Apostles, who was assassinated 
a few years ago by the enraged husband of a womati who 
became a convict to Mormonism, through the ministry of 



TO SALT LAKE VALLEY. 83 

Pratt in California, and afterward joined him as his fifth 
wife. 

In this basin, Mr. Kimball, a son of Heber C. Kimball, 
the second President of the Church, has erected the largest 
and best built house I had seen west of the magnificent 
mansion of Mr. Majors, near Atchison, Kansas. It is of 
stone, two stories, with a long back building, and is used as 
a hotel. Mr. Kimball is a Mormon, having three wives, 
one of whom lives with him at the hotel, a second occupies 
a rude log cabin on the opposite side of the road, and the 
third is at his residence in the city. 

Mr. Kimball in his conversation with me appeared to be 
the most reasonable and liberal man of that faith with whom 
I have conversed. At one time he was a prominent Elder 
in the church, and has been missionary in England, but lat- 
terly takes little interest in her affairs. He has a large in- 
closed and cultivated farm, and raises herds of sheep and 
cattle, which graze upon the mountains and the lowlands 
around his premises. In many parts of Utah there are fine graz- 
ing lands, and though I may not have seen " cattle upon a 
thousand hills," I think I have seen there a thousand cattle 
upon a hill. Were it not for the hostility of the Indians I 
imagine the territory would raise more stock than at present. 
The resident Indians of Utah have been hostile to the 
Mormons, but I think are so because it is profitable to be, 
and not because of any unfair dealing with them, as they 
charge upon the settlers. I am of the opinion that a popu- 
lation of Gentiles would be subjected to exactly the same 
annoyances and depredations. I have not the slightest con- 
fidence in the Indians, and will give my reasons for not 
having in a future letter. 

In the valley a short distance from Mr. Kimball's, another 
settlement is about starting, and a few miles west of that we 
crossed a tall ridge of the Wasach Mountains, known as 
u The Summit," and soon commenced to descend through 
Parley's Canon. For six miles the scenery is not unlike that 
in parts of Silver Creek Canon, but here the eminences may 
be called mountains, and in the other, hills ; but in the lower 
portion the scenery is more wild and romantic. 



84 FROM WANSHIP 

The feelings of admiration for the beautiful in nature as 
seen in my ride along Silver Creek, watching its " laughing 
waters," were changed to those of wonder and awe, when 
I stood before the towering mountains and rugged cliffs In 
Parley's Canon. There nature was seen in her wildest and 
most majestic forms. Great strata of rocks, hundreds of 
feet thick, as they lay where originally formed, had been 
fissured through, and on one side of the fissure thrown up 
to form immense mountains bordering the canon. The 
strata of these were as regular as when they were subterra- 
nean horizontal layers ; but now running at an angle of 
forty-five degrees, and where they had broken off, cropped 
-out along the sides of almost perpendicular bluffs. In places 
they could be seen only along the one side where they 
•terminated ; but here and there a mass had been thrown up, 
which had been fissured in two ways where the strata could 
be traced along its sides also. The thought of the force 
■required thus to. upheave the very foundations of the earth 
was an almost overwhelming thought. It filled me with 
profound awe and reverence. The terrific force still pent 
up in the bowels of the earth beneath, I could never before 
so fully comprehend as when I observed its effects there be- 
fore me. Had I known nothing of the Creator I should 
have worshipped the "Unknown God," amid such wonderful 
evidences of majestic power. 

The canon varies much in width and in some places the 
stream runs so near the bluffs as not to permit two wagons 
to pass. In such places many teams had to wait for our 
column and train to get by, and even the mail-coach had to 
give up the right of way. 

The stream here is larger than Silver Creek, and its fall 
in twelve or fifteen miles I would estimate as considerably 
over two thousand feet ; and as there are no cascades of 
more than a few feet in height, the water along the canon 
rushes rapidly over its uneven and rocky bed. A curious 
and beautiful phenomenon appeared on the slope of the moun- 
tain on the soutn side as we were nearing the terminus of 
the pass. It was a large stream pouring from an opening 



TO SALT LAKE VALLEY. 85 

in the grouud about half-way between summit and b?.se, and 
forming a torrent along the mountain side to the stream in 
the valley below. It was doubtless a drain from mountains 
south, which after making a subterranean passage through 
the range bordering the canon gushed out from its hiding- 
place where I saw it. If a view of Harper's Ferry on the 
Potomac is worth a trip from Europe, as Mr. Jefferson rep- 
resented it was, certainly a sight of Echo and Parley's can- 
ons is worth a continuation of the journey through the Rocky 
Mountains. 

We camped for a night amid some of these scenes, and 
a<*ain, for the last time on our journey, I indulged in the 
sport of trout-fishing. On the Weber River I could wait 
in one place for the trout to come along, but in the smaller 
mountain streams they waited for me, and I had to find their 
rambling places, requiring much more exertion, but the sport 
amply repaid. In one hole, a few feet from my tent, I caught 
several, but I walked two miles before abandoning the sport. 

As we approached the terminus of this, the last pass of 
our journey, the mountains separated wider, and more of 
the clear blue sky could be seen in front of us. Leaving the 
load to the city, we took another winding around the mountain 
side, and before emerging entirely from the canon we came to 
another lager beer brewery, but satisfied with my experi- 
ence at the last, and being impatient to reach a position but 
a little beyond, from which I could view the great valley, I 
passed without stopping. 

But here I must leave the reader, and in my next will at- 
tempt to describe the scene beyond, which is to the Mormon 
emigrant, after his long and toilsome journey, a source of 
delight almost as great as was the sight of the cross to Bun- 
yan's Christian. 



CHAPTER XII. 

SALT LAKE VALLEY AND THE CITY. 

Winding around the side of the mountain from the lager 
beer brewery, we were soon upon a bench beyond the range, 
with the rich valley of the Great Salt Lake stretched out 
before us. It was a clear, pleasant morning — not a cloud 
in the sky, and everything conspiring to make the prospect 
enjoyable. The interests of our command all centred in 
Camp Douglas, and the eyes of officers and soldiers in- 
stinctively turned to the north, and gazed upon their new 
home with a delight almost equal to that of the Mormon 
proselyte, when, after the same journey, and from the same 
stand-point, he beholds for the first time his new Zion. 

Camp Douglas is situated upon the tallest of a series of 
benches which rise one above another from the valley to 
the base of the mountains on the east. Its white buildings, 
surrounding a tall staff, from which the stars and stripes 
floated to the breeze, was a pretty sight ; but tkere was too 
much to be seen for this to occupy my attention more than 
a few moments. 

Immediatelv below the post, to the west, lay the renown- 
ed Salt Lake City. In tfce distance it appeared like a large 
nursery; its fruit-trees almost obscuring the smaller houses, 
which they everywhere surrounded. Here and there a larger 
building rose above the green foliage, and the immense 
arch of the unfinished tabernacle was conspicuous beyond 
the rest. North of the city was the lake formed by the wa- 
ters of the hot springs, and west, the Great Salt Lake, with 
its mountain islands rising from the water. Near its south- 
eastern border commenced the West Mountains, which 



SALT LAKE VALLEY, &c. 87 

run south to near Utah Lake — the most southerly part of 
the valley visible from my stand-point, though it extends far 
beyond ; thence, along the eastern border of the valley, rose 
the majestic Wasach Mountains, through which we had 
passed, and towering up, almost above us, were the "Twin 
Peaks," their snow-crowned summits in remarkable con- 
trast with the green fields of the valley and the fruit-trees 
of the city. 

Through the valley flowed the waters of Jordan from 
Utah Lake to the Dead Sea, and along its banks the fields 
of grain, just ripening for the harvest, dotted the surface of 
the plain before me. Beyond the river the deposits of alkali, 
shining under the sun's rays, looked like miniature lakes. 
But no description of mine will lead to a proper appreciation 
of the beauty of this landscape scene. And all this valley, 
twenty years ago, was a wild, sterile waste, which, by the 
persevering industry of the laborious Mormon, has been 
made to " blossom like the rose." Where formerly only 
sage-brush and grease-wood grew, and the mountaineer 
thought it would be madness to attempt to cultivate, there 
are now fields of wheat, oats and barley, yielding an aver- 
age of forty bushels to the acre, while the more fertile and 
better cultivated farms sometimes produce eighty and ninety. 

When the emigrant Mormons first entered the valley 
with a view to cultivating it, the old settlers in the vicinity said 
they would give them a hundred dollars for every bushel of 
grain they raised them. If the mountaineers had made good 
their offer the Mormons would now be an immensely wealthy 
people. They have certainly wrought a great change in 
the country. I award to them all credit for their enterprise 
and industry. 

Camp Douglas was established in 1862, by the then Col. 
Patrick E. Connor, of the Third California Volunteer Infan- 
try, which regiment arrived in the valley in the fall of that 
year. Temporary quarters were built for the troops the 
first winter, and the following summer the present post was 
erected. Col. Connor was afterward made brigadier-gen- 
eral, and assigned to the command of the district of Utah, 



88 SALT LAKE VALLEY 

when he established his headquarters at this post. The 
garrison is built of wood, with quarters for eight compa- 
nies. The troops occupying them upon our arrival belonged 
to California and Nevada volunteer regiments, under the 
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Johns, who appeared to 
be a o-ood officer, and was not lacking in the amenities 
which" should pertain to his position, as commanding officer, 
upon the arrival of a new command. 

The post was in a very good condition compared with 
the one we last visited (Bridger), and since our arrival has 
not only been greatly improved in general appearance, but 
Major Grimes, the Quartermaster, has added some very 
large store-rooms, and stables. 

But I have something to write about of more interest to 
the reader than a detailed description of Camp Douglas, 
and will occupy no more space with that now. 

We reached there about noon, and after dining with the 
hospitable surgeon, Dr. Hamilton, I immediately started on 
a tour of observation. Cleanliness being ranked by some 
very high in the catalogue of virtues, I first resorted to the 
warm sulphur springs, and took a bath, thus combining 
a gratification of curiosity with utility. There are several 
of these near together, two miles north of the city. The 
water from the largest is conducted to a house containing a 
tank or reservoir, eighteen by twenty feet, and about five 
feet deep. The stream, almost large enough to turn a mill, 
enters the tank on one side, and an opening on the opposite 
side prevents it from overflowing, and it is thus kept con- 
stantly supplied with fresh water as it runs from the spring 
in the hill-side. In the centre, above the warm water, is a 
platform, with a cold shower-bath over it, very suggestive of 
shocks to the nervous system. Near the plunge-bath is a 
larger building, conveniently fitted up with bathing-tubs, 
after the manner of the better class of bath-houses in our 
eastern cities. This part of the establishment is supplied 
with water of the same temperature, and is for the accom- 
modation of both ladies and gentlemen. I chose the plunge- 
bath, and plunging in, experienced a sensation near akin to 



AND THE CITY. 89 

that of scalding; but in a minute the temperature was en- 
durable and even pleasant. Remaining immersed too long, 
however, I paid the penalty in the enervation that followed. 
The water is soft and delightful for a bath, is strongly im- 
pregnated with sulphur, which gives it a light blue color, 
and I should judge the temperature to be above one hundred 
degrees. 

Salt Lake City is on the lowest bench of land between 
the Jordan and the mountains on the east. The site is well 
selected, with a view to drainage and irrigation, and alto- 
gether it has a very desirable location. It could be enlarged 
almost indefinitely with the same advantages as a city it now 
possesses. 

Washington must surrender to Salt Lake City the ex- 
pressive name given to it by John Randolph, and no longer 
be called the "City of Magnificent Distances." 

Salt Lake City is regularly laid out, with the streets at 
right angles. The squares are of uniform size, containing, 
as originally planned, eight lots of one and a quarter acres 
each. Many of these have been divided and subdivided, 
and on the business streets cut up into building lots. 

In the early part of its existence there was built along the 
north and south boundaries of the city, a tall wall of earth, 
nominally for defence against the Indians, but really to 
afford labor to the suffering and disaffected Saints. The 
chosen people of God, as they claim to be, in these latter 
days were not exempt from the infirmities that character- 
ized God's chosen people of old. As they murmured 
against Moses, when suffering in a' desolate country, so the 
Latter Day Saints murmured against Brigham for bringing 
them out to die in the wilderness, as they thought. 

There was trouble then in Zion, that threatened serious 
consequences to the new church, but Brigham Young was 
equal to the emergency. He would not allow them to live 
in idleness, and think over their misfortunes, so he encour- 
aged all kinds of amusements, and employed large numbers 
to build this wall, which was really of no utility - y and when 
the necessity for finding employment in this way for the 

5* 



go SALT LAKE VALLEY 

people had passed, the work was stopped, and the defences 
of the city were not completed. We cannot now " walk 
about Zion and consider her bulwarks," for even those that 
once existed have been allowed to crumble, and wash away^ 
and only fragments remain to mark the places where the de- 
fences were once building. 

The large majority of the houses in Salt Lake City are 
small, one-story frame or adobe tenements, but there are 
many handsome residences and fine stores. The latter are 
built of red sandstone, obtained in the vicinity, or of adobes, 
plastered and painted in imitation of masonry. There are 
residences in Salt Lake City that would attract attention, 
from their fine appearance, in the western district of New 
Orleans, and the store of Mr. Jennings, a Mormon mer- 
chant, would be creditable to Canal street. A very large 
proportion of the houses, off" the business streets, are sur- 
rounded by gardens, varying in size from the original lots to 
a quarter of an acre, and in these grow fruit-trees of several 
varieties, often entirely surrounding the houses, which, ex- 
cept on Main street, are required to be set back several feet 
from the front line of the lot. Almost every family raises 
its own table vegetables, and the market is supplied with all 
kinds of fruit and berries, in season, from the gardens within 
the city limits. 

But little rain falls in Salt Lake City, or indeed anywhere 
in the valley, hence it is necessary to secure moisture for 
vegetation in some other way. This is done by irrigation. 
The gardens in the city are watered by streams from the 
mountains, to the east and northeast, which are so con- 
ducted as to run along the streets. The ditches cut for 
these streams make it as unpleasant to drive through the 
streets of Salt Lake City, as in the national capital, where 
they are about as badly cut up with uncovered gutters. 
Little drains are dug leading into all the gardens, and water 
conducted to them according to the demands of the things 
cultivated. For this irrigating water the property-holder is 
charged just as he would be for Croton water on his premi- 
ses in New York. The supply as at present conducted to 



AND THE CITY. 91 

the city would not be equal to the demand, if the water 
ran through all the gardens at the same time, which indeed 
is unnecessary, so it is furnished to a certain number for 
certain specified hours, and is then shut off from these to 
supply others. 

Taking the city as a whole, it presents more the appear- 
ance of a New England village, or the suburbs of a south- 
ern town, save in the style of its buildings. 

The curiosity of the visitor naturally leads him to see, 
first, the President's Block and Temple Square. The for- 
mer, on South Temple street, fronting south, is surrounded 
by a ten-foot wall of cobble-stones, set in cement. On the 
southwest corner is a large building, where the " Deserel 
News" is printed, and adjoining is a row of one-story build- 
ings, where a few favored ones are allowed to live within the 
inclosure. Next comes the " Lion House," a long two- 
story building, gable end to the street, with the representa- 
tion of a lion, cut in stone, nearly life-size, over the en- 
trance. This is the Prophet's harem, where the majority 
of his wives reside. Whether or not the lion over the en- 
trance is indicative of the ferocity that would be visited 
upon the head of a Gentile who dare enter there, I am 
unable to say. Next beyond is the Bee-Hive House, so 
named from a representation of a hive that surmounts the 
centre of the roof, which is the Prophet's own residence, 
and adjoining is his business sanctum, and the general busi- 
ness office of the Church. Between the Lion House and 
the Bee-Hive House, is a large gate-way which is the en- 
trance to City Creek Canon, and over this is the figure of 
an eagle. City Creek Canon has been conveyed to Brigham 
Young by an act of the territorial legislature, notwithstand- 
ing it is unsurveyed Government land. In this canon is all 
the wood to be had in the vicinity of the city, and the Pro- 
phet requires one load in every three that are cut for the 
privilege of collecting fuel on his property. 

Last in the row of houses, and a little further removed, 
stands the residence of the " first wife," who lives in great 
seclusion, and is but seldom seen by any one, Mormon or 



92 SALT LAKE VALLEY 

Gentile. The tithing offices, where tithes are paid in prod- 
uce, is on the side of the square facing west, and is a long 
row of one-story buildings. In rear of Mr. Young's resi- 
dence is the church store, where the faithful may purchase 
on credit what they require, and pay for it in produce or 
otherwise, as best suits their convenience, when rendering 
the yearly account of their stewardship. There is also a 
school-house in the inclosure, where the younger Youngs' 
young ideas are taught to shoot. 

Within the inclosure which surrounds all these buildings, 
and takes in a number of acres, grow some of the choicest 
variety of the peach, pear and apple. These fruit are ex- 
cellent, and so are the strawberries and raspberries, which 
are also largely cultivated in the city ; but the grape has not 
reached that degree of excellence that characterizes the 
others. 

Most of these buildings, when erected, were palaces com- 
pared to others in Zion, (particularly the Lion House, which 
is said to have cost $65,000), and for neatness and solid 
substantial appearance, they are ahead of the more recently 
constructed residences of other dignitaries in the church 
some of which present a very fine appearance. Some of 
the Mrs. Youngs, I am told, live without the defences of 
their husband, and occupy private residences in other parts 
of the city. 

Temple Square is next west of that in which the Prophet 
resides, Main street running between. It is to contain the 
Temple and Tabernacle. The former has been fifteen years' 
building, and is now only a few feet above ground. The 
plan of the building makes it to be one hundred and eighty- 
six and a half feet long, from east to west, and ninety-nine 
feet from north to south. There are to be towers on the 
four corners, and centre towers, also, a little taller 
than the others, on the east and west ends, all of 
which project but slightly above the roof, and are to be one 
hundred and ninety and two hundred feet high. 

Cuts of the Temple as it is to be, or rather as it is planned 
to be, make it a massive, substantial-looking edifice. It 



> 




^ 



o 

GO 






AND THE CITY. 93 

combines several kinds of architecture, though the combi- 
nation is well made, and does not destroy the beauty of the 
building. The work on the Temple is progressing with a 
view to its greater durability than the one destroyed at Nau- 
voo, Illinois. The blocks of granite of which the founda- 
tion is made, are not only dressed on the face, but the six 
sides of the cubes are made as regular and even as the 
square and spirit-level of the mechanic can make them. 
The masonry now in, unless disturbed by man or nature, in 
other ways than the ordinary changes wrought by time, will 
exist for thousands of years. 

But it is the universal opinion with anti-Mormons, and 
I have no doubt with many observing ones of the Faith, also, 
that the Temple will be longer in building than Solomon's 
was, or in other words, that it will never be completed. A 
very small number of workmen are now employed on it — 
just sufficient to make it appear that the work is progressing, 
and afford an excuse for collecting to prosecute it. Many 
have already secured seats in the Temple by contributing funds 
for that special purpose. A story is told of a saint who 
lived in a remote part of the territory, and had paid for a 
choice seat, who visited Zion, and expected to occupy her 
place in the Temple, thinking the structure actually existed 
as represented in lithographs she had seen. 

There is a little incident connected with building the 
Temple which I must mention here. The stone of 
which the structure is to be reared is brought from the 
mountains, a number of miles distant, and to facilitate its 
transportation, the Prophet had a canal cut from the quarry 
toward the city ; but a blunder of the engineer ruined the 
enterprise. The end of the canal in the city was unfortu- 
nately higher than where it started from the quarry, and 
while Mr. Young could not " remove mountains," neither 
was his faith sufficient to overcome another natural law, and 
make water run up hill. 

The Tabernacle is in the same inclosure, and is to con- 
sist of an immense wooden arch, supported on stone pilas- 
ters, ten on twelve feet high. The span of the arch is one 



94 SALT LAKE VALLEY 

hundred and eighty feet, and its length two hundred and 
fifty feet, with ends rounded off, and to rest on similar sup- 
ports at the sides. It is to be used as a place of worship 
in the summer season only, and below the arch is to be left 
open. The Prophet informed me, and I have no doubt he 
is good authority in such matters, that the arch of the Tab- 
ernacle has a wider span than any other wooden arch in the 
world. It is calculated to seat twelve thousand persons. It 
is progressing rapidly toward completion, and nearly the 
whole arch now is covered in. 

An immense organ is also building, and I have no doubt 
within a year the new Tabernacle will be occupied. 

The present Tabernacle, which is in the same inclosure, 
consists of a long, low, shed-like building, capable of seat- 
ing less than a thousand people, and is used only in the win- 
ter. During the warm season their worship is in the " Bow- 
ery." This consists of a shelter from the sun, made of 
green boughs placed on a frame-work of timber, about ten 
feet above the ground. At one end is the pulpit, of very 
large size, made of rough boards, which are whitewashed. 
Along the back of this are arranged the seats for the officials, 
a host of whom occupy the pulpit whenever there is public 
service. The President's seat is in the middle, and extend- 
ing from, toward either end of the row ; the other 
officials, of whom I shall speak in another letter, are seated 
according to rank — the highest next to Brigham's colleagues 
in the presidency, who are seated on his right and left. 
Sunday afternoon service in the Bowery reminded me very 
much of old-fashioned camp-meetings I sometimes attended 
when a boy. 

Next to the Bowery the theatre is the most popular 
place for the faithful in Zion. It is always filled when 
there is a play, and by a class of people certainly not capable 
of a very profound appreciation of the drama. They prob- 
ably go from a sense of duty (the same that takes them to 
the Bowery on the Sabbath), for the theatre is owned by 
the Presicknt, and conducted by one of his sons-in-law for 
his father-in-law's pecuniary benefit. Every saint then 



AND THE CITY. 95 

that pays his entrance fee, considers that he is keeping 
Brother Brigham, and to do so is to him a pleasure. 

The theatre is the largest building in the city. It has a 
very plain exterior, but I am informed that the interior ar- 
rangement cannot be surpassed tor completeness and elegance 
by any theatre in the country, since the burning of the 
Academy of Music in New York city. Near the theatre 
is the City Hall, one of the finest buildings in the city. It 
is built of red sandstone, and the tin covering of the rounded 
top of its cupola on the centre of the roof, is con- 
spicuous from all the approaches to the city In an- 
other part of the city is a somewhat similar building, the 
court-house of the ct State of Deseret." 

The "public hall of the "Council of Seventy," is in the 
same locality, and so is the " Social Hall," belonging to 
Brigham, which is hired for balls, &c. There is but one 
hotel in the city, the Salt Lake House, which is a two-story 
building, with limited accommodations, often insufficient 
for the demand, and would not be creditable to any town of 
five thousand inhabitants east of the Mississippi.* 

The hotel, like the theatre, I have been told by good au- 
thority, is the property of Brigham Young, and is conducted 
for him by a relative. A skeptic might suppose that the Pres- 
ident has some regard for lucre, as well as the salvation of 
the souls of his fellow-men. 

On Main street, in the vicinity of the hotel, nearly all the 
principal business houses are situated. That of Mr. Jen- 
nings, to which I have already alluded, is but one of a num- 
ber of large stores. Walker Brothers, RamshofF & Co., 
Gilbert & Sons, are the principal Gentile merchants, but 
the last named Gentile firm are also 'Jews. There is known 
no distinction between Jew and Christian by the Mor- 
mon — they are both Gentiles to him. There are a number 



* Since this was written another hotel, known as the Revere House, has been 
started by a Gentile, and I understand at least one other will be opened next 
summer. Gentile houses, I should think, would do well, as the majority of 
the patrons of the Salt Lake House are anti-Mormons. 



96 SALT LAKE VALLEY, &c 

of other firms who have no sympathy with Mormonism, 
that conduct a large and profitable business. The firm I 
first mentioned have apostatized from the faith and left the 
church. The immediate cause of the rupture was Brig- 
ham Young's dissatisfaction with the amount of tithing they 
paid, he claiming that it was not one-tenth of their entire 
profits. This is one striking instance of a growing dissatis- 
faction arising from this church extortion. The amount 
of business done in Salt Lake City will probably astonish 
most of my readers. In 1865 the purchases of Jennings 
amounted to $460,000 ; while there are half-a-dozen firms 
at least, that exceeded $200,000 in their purchases, and this 
is the cost of the goods in the East, to which must be add- 
ed the immense cost of transportation from the Atlantic 
almost across the continent. 

There are also several photographic establishments in the 
city, all owned by Mormons. Savage & Ottinger have the 
best, and are really good artists. They probably realize a 
much larger income from the sale of views, and cards of 
the distinguished men in the church, than from the work 
they do for individuals. They charge five dollars a dozen 
Cor the cards they keep for sale, and the same if an individ- 
ual has a sitting. Large as is the business done by these 
merchants, many will be surprised to learn that their stores 
are conducted upon the plan of country and village stores in 
the States. Every variety of goods, wares and implements 
are sold in each establishment, and to Jennings' is added the 
business of the broker also. In the same store, a customer 
may purchase anything, from a threshing-machine to a box 
of Ayers' pills; from a costly silk dress, or pair of white 
satin slippers, to a sack of potatoes or a pound of brown 
soap ; and the articles purchased may be paid for in coin, gold 
dust, greenbacks, Mormon shinplasters, flour, grain, pump- 
kins, cabbages, etc. Such articles of produce form the cir- 
culating medium everywhere. A saint from thecountry will 
bring in a load of pumpkins, and cabbage, and first he will 
turn in the tenth of them to the tithing office ; then he will 
make his purchases at the stores, and pay for them in the 



THE DEAD SEA OF AMERICA. 97 

same, and then he will to go the theatre, with a wife hold of 
one arm, and a pumpkin under the other to pay for his ticket 

Prices are very high. An ordinary cooking-stove sells for one 
hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five dollars \ 
common cane-seat chairs, seventy-five dollars for a set of six \ 
plain pine bedsteads for sixty dollars; ingrain carpet for three 
and a half dollars per yard. Groceries and produce command 
the following prices : Good ham, one dollar per pound ; 
bacon, seventy-five cents ; coffee, eighty cents ; tea, from 
three to five dollars ; dried fruit, fifty to seventy-five cents ; 
syrup, six to eight dollars per gallon, &c. But the produc- 
tions of the territory range at lower figures. Beef, fifteen 
to twenty cents per pound ; mutton, a few cents higher y 
butter, fifty cents ; new potatoes, one and a half dollars per 
bushel; onions, carrots, radishes, &c, cheap. 

Three newspapers are published in the city. The "^if- 
dette" is an anti-Mormon sheet, which a few months ago 
was conducted with very little regard for decency or pro- 
priety. Under its present management it does better. 
This paper was started by General Connor, and for a long 
time indulged in the most unwarranted abuse of the Mor- 
mons. The " Telegraph " is a Mormon paper, and the 
" Deseret News 1 ' the official organ of the church. The 
two former have daily issue, and the latter appears only 
weekly. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE DEAD SEA OF AMERICA. 

On the second day after my arrival at Camp Douglas > 
Captain Grimes, the obliging and efficient quartermaster 
furnished a handsome "turn out" of four fine horses and a 
Santa Fe ambulance, and, with one companion, I was soon 
dashing over Jordan, in the direction of the Great Salt 
Lake. 



98 THE DEAD SEA 

But before we go to the Lake, as I may not have occa- 
sion again to refer to Camp Douglas or its officers, I will 
take the present opportunity of alluding to some of them. 
Colonel Lewis is the officer, par excellence, of his bat- 
talion. I met him for the first time at Fort Kearney, as I 
stated in a previous letter, and the favorable impressions 
then formed have only been increased, after three months' 
association with him in a subordinate capacity. If it were 
not for the fear of displeasing him, or bringing a blush to 
his modest face, 1 would venture to mention wherein I con- 
sider him one of the best officers, of any rank, with whom I 
have served. Opportunities often make men, and it is only 
for the want of an opportunity that his name is not now 
familiar to the country as a prominent officer during the 
war. Dunne; all that time he was serving on the frontier. I 
should not do justice to my feelings if I said less of him, 
and even this allusion may meet his disapprobation. 

Major. Benham was another to whom I became attached 
on the march. For bravery, honesty and unselfishness he 
cannot be excelled. He is a little reserved to a stranger, 
but a true friend when he forms an attachment, and as a 
company officer, among the best in his regiment. 

Captain McClintock was, perhaps, my most intimate 
associate, and a very companionable gentleman, as well as 
a good officer. His charming lady, who accompanied us 
through, was esteemed by every one, and every one who 
esteemed her loved the lovely little Ettie, a sweet infant 
daughter, who made the journey in the first half-year of her 
existence. 

But i must drop personalities and go on with my visit to 
the Lake. It is about eighteen miles from the city to Black 
Rock, a noted landmark on the beach, near where the Cal- 
ifornia road first strikes the border of the lake. The lake 
is about eighty or ninety miles in length, from north to south, 
and about sixty in its greatest width from east to west. It 
contains a number of islands, that rise from the water to 
mountain heights. The most southern of them is known 
as Church Island, where the herds belonging to the church, 



OF AMERICA. 99 

or to the Prophet, are sent to graze. Like the Dead Sea 
of Palestine, its water is intensely salt, and no living thing 
is found in it. The quantity of chloride of sodium (com- 
mon salt) held in solution, is greater than in any body of 
water in the world. The density of the water of the Dead 
Sea is a little greater than that of Salt Lake. A compara- 
tive analysis of the solid cor stitutents of the two is as fol- 
lows : 

DEAD SEA. SALT LAKE. 

Chloride of sodium, 10,390 Chloride of sodium, 20,196 
Do. calcium, 3,920 Sulphate of soda, i>&34 

Do. magnesium, 10,246 Do. magnesium, ,252 

Sulphate of soda, >°54 — 

22,282 



24,580 



Thus it appears that, while the Dead Sea has of solid 
contents a fraction over two per cent, above that of Great 
Salt Lake, the proportion of common salt in the latter is 
nearly double that of the former. 

Like the Dead Sea, Salt Lake has no outlet, and is con- 
stantly supplied with fresh water by several streams. 
The Jordan, running from Utah Lake, in the early 
summer months pours into it a body of water almost equal 
to that carried by its Asiatic namesake from the Sea of Gal- 
ilee to the Dead Sea of Palestine. The Weber and Bear 
rivers, to which I have before referred, also empty their 
waters into Salt Lake. This large supply is not more than 
sufficient to counterbalance the loss by evaporation, except 
during the spring and early summer months, when the lake 
sometimes overflows its borders ; nor does the large quan- 
tity of fresh water constantly pouring into it lessen its salt- 
ness, but, on the contrary, adds to its density. This is 
explained as follows: all the water of the several streams 
that empty into the lake have more or less of the solid con- 
tents enumerated in the above analysis, and as only a trace of 
any of these passes oft* by evaporation, the percentage or 
common salt remaining in the lake becomes greater rather 



ioo THE DEAD SEA 

than less, and nearly reaches the quantity contained in a 
saturated solution. 

Salt works have been established along the lake, and the 
finest salt I ever saw is obtained simply by driving off the 
water by boiling. The yield is enormously large, but can- 
not be as much as is claimed by those engaged in collecting 
it. They represent that three barrels of water will leave 
one barrel of salt ; but as I have shown there is only twenty- 
two per cent, of all the solid contents combined, it would 
not produce more than one-fifth its weight or bulk. The 
water is of a greenish-blue color, and very transparent, 
and along the shore there is a peculiar odor, caused by the 
moisture in the air from the evaporating waters, as well as 
the decay of myriads of little insects. Near the Black Rock 
is the usual bathing-place, where the beach is sandy and the 
bottom free from rocks or irregularities. The lake here is 
very shallow, and it required me to wade a long dis- 
tance before I was floated off my feet in the erect posture. 
Being tired of wading so far, I undertook to swim, but 
I soon discovered that I was kicking above the 
surface, with my head very much inclined to as- 
sume a lower position, and as the air did not offer re- 
sistance sufficient for such locomotion, I had to abandon 
swimming. I waded on as before, until I accomplished my 
object — that is, until I could wade no further, not because 
the water covered me, but because I couldn't reach the bot- 
tom with my feet — and there I was, bobbing about on the 
waves, head and neck above them, like an empty bottle. 
Turning upon my back, I found less difficulty in swimming, 
and when in that position, I remembered the description of 
a bath in the Dead Sea by the editor of the Advocate, and 
remaining perfectly passive, holding my hands up before me, 
realized that I could have reclined there and read the morn- 
ing paper with comparative ease. I found a disposition to 
roll over, face downward, but except this no inconvenience 
resulted. To sink was impossible, that is, if I lay passive 
on the water. Wherever there was an abrasion of the skin 
a smarting sensation was produced. I have been amused 



OF AMERICA. 101 

at the experience of an English traveller, who, for experi- 
ment, opened his eyes beneath the water, and suffered very- 
considerable inconvenience from the smarting and flow of 
tears that followed. I will not further describe my bath. 
Let the reader read Dr. Newman's book, " From Dan to 
Beersheba " and he will be much better pleased with his 
account of a bath in the Dead Sea than with anything I 
might write, though my experience was very similar. Before 
going into the lake, I took the precaution to have some 
fresh water brought from a neighboring spring, with which 
to wash the salty solution from my body, and soon saw 
the utility of the precaution. Neglecting to include my hair 
in the washing, I found it filled with a fine white powder 
of salt. The bath altogether was one of the most pleasant 
I ever had. The temperature of the water was delightful, 
and after remaining immersed for half an hour, I left it feel- 
ing invigorated and refreshed rather than debilitated. 

There seems to be a difference of opinion about the 
buoyancy of the water of this remarkable lake. Captain 
Burton is the only individual I have ever seen, or read 
of, or heard of, who did not float on its surface, when 
bathing in it, and his statement seems a little equivo- 
cal. He says he found no difficulty in sinking ; neither 
would we find any difficulty in sinking a stick of soft 
wood for a moment in the Mississippi or North River 
if one should be dropped from a pier or a boat perpen- 
dicularly to the water. I have no idea that the body 
of a man, if he jumped on the water, would rebound 
like a rubber ball when struck against a marble slab ; 
but I am very much inclined to think that if the gen- 
tleman named has five pounds of fat in his whole corpus 
some part of it would float above water. 

But the tendency of writers is to exaggerate the other 
way ; they represent the wa.sr to be more buoyant than it 
is. Certainly it is remarkable enough without exaggerating 
to furnish subject-matter for an interesting letter ; then 
why spoil the whole by overreaching possibilities. One 
writer says: " With my hands clasped together under my 



102 THE DEAD SEA 

head, and my feet crossed, I floated upon the very surface of 
the lake with at least one-third of my body above water. 1 
My experience was quite different. I could not have re- 
mained in such a position for a moment, but would have 
rolled over, face downward, and if my hands were retained 
behind my head it would have put my face under water. 
If the weight of my body had been such as to make it more 
buoyant, then there would have been still greater difficulty. 
I doubt further whether cold water, under any circumstan- 
ces, can hold in solution mineral constituents sufficient to 
increase its density until it would float a living, healthy 
human body one-third above the surface. 

Nor do I believe that a person cannot drown in Salt Lake. 
Knowing how to swim I found no difficulty in keeping my 
head above the water, but I think if I had not been so ex- 
perienced in deep water I would have found considerable 
difficulty in doing so. I believe if a person should fall 
from a boat, and lose the erect posture, his head, being the 
heavier part, would go under, and the man drown, as his body 
floated on the surface. This is merely a matter of opinion, 
however, and it might be demonstrated to be erroneous. 

Feeling highly gratified with the morning's experience we 
started back for the city, stopping at a neat-looking little 
house near by, from which was displayed a sign, reading 
" Meals furnished at Seasonable Hours j" but we took only 
a glass of buttermilk, and regarded it as an unseasonable 
hour for our dinner, though the family were then partaking. 
The house was kept by a Mormon lady whose daughter's 
appearance rather attracted my companion. As we hur- 
ried across the plain to escape rather an unusual thing at 
that season— a rain-storm — with that magnificent team dash 
ing along at the rate of ten miles an hour, I thought that 
Major Grimes, who furnished it, ought to be Quartermaster- 
General. 

Another curiosity in the vicinity of Salt Lake City is the 
hot spring. It is a few miles north of the warm springs 
I alluded to in my last, and situated at the base of the 
same range of hills or spur of the mountains. It pours out 



OF AMERICA. 103 

quite a large stream of water from an opening in the solid 
rock, but a few feet distant from the road. Running 
through a drain which has been dug to prevent the road 
from being flooded, it spreads out into a pretty lake which 
is a favorite resort for large numbers of wild ducks in the 
fall, and in the winter it is the grand natural skating park 
of Salt Lake City. Where the water escapes from the 
rock the temperature of it is at least 130 degrees, and 
several feet distant it was so uncomfortably hot as not to 
permit me holding my hand in it for a second. I resorted 
to the popular test of hot water in such springs, and put in 
some eggs to boil, but as the process of coagulating was 
going on rather slowly, and night approaching more rapidly, 
with several bad places in the road to the city, and a demor- 
alized driver, because he was kept out so late, I abandoned 
the experiment and left my eggs for the breakfast of the 
first emigrant who should pass in the morning, if he felt 
inclined to indulge in the luxury. But I fancy, if he were 
a Gentile, he supposed they had been poisoned, and put 
there by a Mormon, and if a Mormon, that the same 
diabolical act had been done by a Gentile, and the eggs 
were probably not disturbed. 

A tale is told of a miner from Montana, whose love for 
the saints in Utah was not of a very high order (as is the 
case with miners generally), who passed the spring on his 
way to the city. Before doing so, however, he concluded 
to take a bath without trying the temperature of the water 
in the spring itself, though he had done so in the drain a few 
yards from it. A Mormon happened to be passing along 
at the time, and seeing that the man was laboring 
under some mistake, or crazy, went to him, kindly re- 
marking that he couldn't bathe there. This aroused the 
Gentile, who very indignantly responded, with sundry oaths, 
that he would do anything in that country that a Mormon 
could do. He thought the man questioned his right to use 
the spring, and continuing his disrobing, stepped into the 
water up to his knees, to jump out again with a good deal 
more agility than when he stepped in, very much to the 



104 THE DEAD SEA 

amusement of the saint, and to the gratification of his feel- 
ings of revenge for the cursing he got. The miner had 
been informed by some friends of the warm springs, and the 
luxury of a bath in them, and as that was before the days 
of bathing-houses in that vicinity, he had simply mistaken 
the locality. 

The smell of sulphureted hydrogen could be detected 
for some distance from the spring, and its action upon a 
silver coin turned it black in a few minutes. The smell is 
said to be particularly objectionable to some animals, and I 
am told that it is often difficult to drive a horse through the 
little stream that crosses the road. 

This is a country of lakes, and not least among the many 
to be admired for natural beauty, and that of its surround- 
ings, is a lake in the top of the mountains. A short dis- 
tance south of the "Twin Peaks," almost on the very sum- 
mit of the Wasach Mountains, is found Cotton- Wood 
Lake. It is reached by a wagon road on the western slope, 
which enters a canon a few miles south of Parley, and on 
the east can be approached by a trail leading over the moun- 
tains from Parley's Park. The scenery along the western 
approach is very wild and sublime. On one side of the 
road are almost perpendicular walls of solid rock hundreds 
of feet high, and on the other side the rushing, leaping 
waters of the outlet of the lake, which are lashed into a 
foam as they run over the rocks, giving it the appearance of a 
stream of snow, or a glacier after it has dashed against rocks 
to grind it as fine and white. Making a steep ascent along a 
narrow road, until you reach an altitude of four thousand 
feet above the valley, you come upon this beautiful little 
lake. The banks on the east are tall and steep, but on the 
western side, for a short distance, the land is almost level 
with the surface of the lake. The water is as clear as 
crystal, and the trout can be seen swimming through it as 
distinctly as the gold-fish in the pools of parks in eastern 
cities, while the bottom is very plainly seen where it is ten 
or twelve feet deep. Trout-fishing here is not so exciting as 
in 'the rapid streams. The water is still, and the fish seem to 



OF AMERICA. 105 

partake of the sluggishness of their element. The hooks 
must be sunk, as the trout will not come to the surface, 
and then when he bites he does so as deliberately as if it were 
a dainty morsel, and you can see him as he takes the bait in 
his mouth and runs off. How different from the way he 
bites in the rapid streams ! There, as soon as the bait touches 
the surface, and indeed sometimes before, he will jump 
entirely out of the water and catch it, perfectly electrifying 
the sportsman. 

I did not fish in Cotton- Wood Lake ; but a few days be- 
fore my arrival at Camp Douglas, several officers made an 
excursion there, and brought away the finny tribe by the 
hundreds. It was then the month of July, the reader will 
remember, and they obtained snow from a bank within a few 
hundred yards of the lake in which they packed the fish to 
preserve them as they returned through the warm valley. If 
the reader ever visits Cotton-Wood Lake in the summer, 
to encamp for the night, I would advise him by all means 
to go furnished with a mosquito-bar, for I think there is 
more danger of being carried off bodily by the little insects 
there, than in any place I have visited. 

While referring to the natural phenomena of this locality, 
I must mention the gorgeous sunsets that may be observed 
from Camp Douglas. Salt Lake, it will be remembered, is 
west of the post, and during the earlier hours of the day is 
but indistinctly seen, and its surface is distinguished from 
the land around by its dark appearance ; but on a clear af- 
ternoon, as the sun is about disappearing behind it, or, ap- 
parently, in the lake, the water is lit up with a brilliancy 
that makes it look like a sea of mercury. As if rising out of 
the lake, the sky by the same reflection assumes a similar 
appearance, and the borders of the fleecy clouds which hang 
about the horizon become as brilliant as polished gold, and 
constantly changing in shape as well as in the different hues 
of their bright colors. The sight fills the observer with 
wonder and amazement, as he admires their beauty. The 
same reflection also lights up the outlines of the mountain 
islands, and after gazing intently upon the scene, I could 



106 THE MORMON CHURCH. 

not define the termination of the water from the beginning 
of the sky, nor distinguish between the shining mountains 
and the shining clouds. Italian skies and seas could not 
have presented a more gorgeous sunset. 

This letter concludes my description of the journey and 
what I saw ; in those to follow I will endeavor to tell the 
reader what I have learned about one of the most remarkable 
people of modern times. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE MORMON CHURCH. 

A history of the Mormon Church, condense it as I might, 
so as. to give a tolerably clear idea of what it has been, 
what it has done, and what it teaches at the pres- 
ent day, would of itself make a book. What I shall 
write, therefore, may be regarded as merely fragmentary ; 
but it is a subject of too much interest, for one writing from 
Utah, to pass over without some notice. 

I shall endeavor to present to the reader such facts con- 
nected with the history of this strange people, and such in- 
cidents of both their inner and outward life, as have passed 
under my observation, or come to my knowledge through 
reliable channels. 

I will discard the extravagant and unsubstantiated stories 
which are constantly in the mouths of anti-Mormons, who, 
from prejudice arising from a real or imaginary injury, can 
see nothing in the lives or characters of individuals holding 
allegiance to Brigham Young, but to despise and contemn, 
and are constantly traducing them. I started for Utah with 
a very superficial knowledge of the Mormons, and with my 
mind made up not to prejudge them upon the mere hearsay 
evidence of their enemies, but determined to see and learn 
of them for myself, and not to base my opinion upon the 



THE MORMON CHURCH. 107 

mere opinion of others. The result was that my first im- 
pressions of them were favorable. They appeared exceed- 
ingly plausible, and in nine cases out of ten the liberal Gen- 
tile is impressed as I was, and will endeavor to cover up, 
and explain away, very much that he learns from the more 
experienced that is prejudicial to the characters of the lead- 
ers of the sect. Such al least was my experience, and I 
have had many long and sharp arguments in defence of what 
I supposed was an injured and abused people. 

Much of their true history I was reluctant to believe, but 
fact after fact has been presented so clearly before me, that 
I am compelled to change the opinions first formed. Nor 
am I alone in this respect either; but I find nearly every in- 
telligent and honest individual who has taken the trouble to 
look into their iniquitous system, and at first thought of 
them as I did, has been led to think of them as I do now. 

I am sorry to believe that much that has been written 
abusive of the Mormons, has been so colored by prejudice, 
as I have before intimated, as to distort facts, and by extrav- 
agant descriptions destroy the effect which a plain state- 
ment would have upon the thoughtful reader. 

Then on the other hand the extreme plausibility of the 
leaders, with their apparent liberality, and their hospitable 
treatment of influential strangers, cause others to state as 
much less than the truth, as the first class state more. They 
are led to consider them as not near so bad as they are 
represented to be, and not unnaturally side with the weaker 
party. They have heard extravagant abuse until they are 
willing to conceal much that they must abhor as an offset. 

Before referring to the church as it exists at the present 
day, I will give a brief sketch of its history from its 
origin. 

Mormonism had its rise in New Hampshire in 1830, 
when Joseph Smith claims to have received and translated 
the Book of Mormon, and organized the Church of Latter 
Day Saints. Smith declared nimself to have been specially 
inspired for the work, and designated by the Almighty as the 
leader of His people. He claims to have received the 

U//vfcr* 



t ■ 



108 THE MORMON CHURCH. 

revelation from God, written in mystic characters upon 
plates of gold, and his translation of the inscriptions thereon 
is the Mormon Bible of the present day. Missionaries were 
at once sent out to proclaim the new gospel. As evidence 
of their divine authority they pretended to work miracles. 
Early in its history the new sect was subjected to rigid per- 
secution, which only increased their fanaticism, and Joseph 
Smith soon entertained the idea of establishing a temporal 
sovereignty. The character of Smith had been notoriously 
bad for years before he claimed to be the great revelator 
of a new gospel. His reputation for veracity suffered alike 
with his reputation for violating the laws of the country pro- 
hibiting larceny, while almost the entire community in which 
he resided regarded him as devoid of principle and honesty. 
He was a visionary gold-seeker, digging everywhere for the 
metal, and'coveting wealth with the least possible amount of 
labor that might be expended in gaining it. The various 
doctrines to which the church now hold were submitted 
and adopted from time to time, and early in its history an 
important work styled "Book of Doctrines and Covenants'* 
was written, which is claimed to consist of revelations 
received since the publication of the Book of Mormon, and 
is accepted still as a rule of faith and practice, with such 
modifications as it is claimed subsequent revelations have 
made to its teaching. 

These pretended revelations, as will be seen hereafter, 
have made very radical changes in the practices of the 
church, and their religious tenets seem to be as susceptible 
of as different interpretations as a treaty, or the constitution 
of the United States in these times. 

The Church soon attempted to establish a local indepen- 
dent government of its own (as it has de facto in Utah at 
present), but soon found itself in conflict with the lawful 
authority of the land. The practices of the Mormons 
were not only unlawful, but often so disgusting to the peo- 
ple of Illinois and Missouri as to bring about violence. 
Unfortunately the passions of a mob so ruled as to result 
in the murder of Smith, the leader, in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 



THE MORMON CHURCH. 109 

1844. At the time of his death, he was in prison for vio- 
lation of law, when the prison was forced, and the man shot 
dead on the spot. John Taylor, now one of the Apostles in 
Salt Lake City, narrowly escaped being killed at the same 
time. He was a fellow-prisoner of Smith's, and a ball 
passed through his clothing and lodged in his watch, which 
he still preserves as a memento of the tragedy. Such acts 
are always to be deprecated. Mob violence is barbarism, 
whether in the acts of a Vigilance Committee in California, 
a massacre in New Orleans, or the attempt of a John 
Brown to incite insurrection in a peaceable community. 

Brigham Young, now the Prophet, President, Seer and 
Revelator was received into the church in the second year 
of its existence, and in 1835 was elected President of the 
" Twelve Apostles." 

After the death of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, one of 
his councillors, assumed the Presidency ; but before he had 
ruled a year he was deposed by Brigham. It appears that 
no "revelation" had been recorded, providing for a succes- 
sor in the event of the death of the Prophet, and Rigdon 
being next highest in rank, naturally claimed the position. 
As there was then no one individual to receive a revelation 
that would satisfy the clashing interest of aspirants, Brig- 
ham Young proposed to show the will of God concerning 
the succession by a miraculous demonstration. So on one 
occasion Brigham went into the pulpit, to preach, as he had 
often done before, and upon rising before the congregation, 
he assumed the appearance, manners and tone of voice of 
Joseph Smith, the martyr, so perfectly as to quite electrify 
the people. Whereupon it was at once conceded that the 
mantle had fallen upon him, and he was by acclamation 
declared to be the President of the Church. This made 
poor Rigdon to be an impostor, and he was cut off and 
delivered over to the buffetings of Satan. Brigham Young's 
course met the disapprobation of Emma Smith, who had 
been the public wife of Joseph. She contended then, as she 
does now, that her husband had expressly do&clared, that at 
his death his mantle would fall upon his oldest son, and he 



no HIE MORMON CHURCH. 

become dM . : .er in l> 1' red Joseph, 

an. - , and had it no .vers 

licrv or' You ■., the CC >: ^ 

ablv hive long . :ii> he would ha .:i 

a > : oi [L,oi the Church « ouM 

n the ond any assur- 

: had been the \\ s « of 
the F : . it as ce 

. 
exist :*ardv 

m.. . . - . . '. . ssoui . -eath 

of S In April 1847, 

th, : saints, numb< 4 | 

th.- nresid< Miss R 1 a m in r 

West In S.ilt Like 

?\Va> •>, 

, and ha. > wa> : 

• 
1 . 

the light WIS d. 

Th 11 the o ; .:n was 
■M prepa the rev 

iuq \ . :o :he Miss R 

Chun 

. . 
1 . . - . Like C 

. 5* -. .... 

to the 
tok st nilk in 

» swisalk) « et 
but ssess, nin the - 1 . . be 1 

d. 
Jships on th< 

> . *. . .re 



rtlK MORMON CHURCH, in 

thev could culti> ite the land, thej li\ ad on beetles, and grass- 
ho ., and such nutritious wild Kerbs is could be found* 
rhe\ were verj poorly clad, and without shelter) and ■ long 
and drear v winter, coldei than the) evei before experienced! 
was upon them. Was it surprising that they murmured f 
But out 1 theii difficulties Brigham Young managed to 

delivei them, p\s soon ash could be done the people com- 

meneed agriei^tural pursuits, But when the husbandmen 

could not work, the\ were employed in othei ways, and 
such as could not laboi ad\ jcously on am muh 
work, were laboi on the " Bulwarks oi Zion." 

Nothing .. proves the ability oi Brigham Young as 
the leader of a fanatical religious sect, and as a man of most 
extrae esou ces, than the management of the migi 

tionofthe Mormons, and oi theii affairs during the first 
yeai o i arrh a) In the t allei . 

A ti ne Utah was i part of Mexico, 1>\ a treaty 

beft eenthat Go\ ernmentand the I fnited States, the territory 
waseeded to the latter j and in 1849 the Mormons met in con- 
tention, adopted a constitution which the^ called M rhe Con- 
stitution of the State of IVseu-t," and applied for immediate 
admission into the Union under it, Phere was then no 
recogni &ed it in that country 1 but the yeai follow- 

ing Congress organized the present territory, and Mi. Fill- 
more, who was then President, appointed Brigham Young 
the nrst Governoi as well as Commissioner of Indian 

A trans. 

It has evei been a fundamental idea with the Mormon 
leaders, that the church ^\d state should really be one go^ - 
ernment, bowevei distinct they might nominally be made, 
and it has been sv^ to this date, 

One would suppose, under theii territorial organisation) 
with then President as Governor, ^\d a legislature entirely 
of the church, the Mormons would no longer continue their 
quasi State government. But nevertheless it has continued* 
Awd oi\ the twentv-second of January last ' k rhe General 
Assembly of the State of Deseret" memoralized Congress 
to; the admission of Utah into the Union, with the consti- 



ii2 THE MORMON CHURCH. 

tution adopted in 1849 slightly amended.* They evidently 
foresaw the danger of Brigham's removal from office. As 
a State he could always be the Governor. 

Utah being in the very centre of the Indian country of the 
West, for several years after its settlement by the Mor- 
mons the colonies were subjected to Indian outrages. 
Wherever a settlement was made the first work of the set- 
tlers was to build a fort. 

But from the organization of the territory in 1850, noth- 
ing remarkable in the history of the saints occurred until 
1857, when their usurpation of authority, and defiance of law, 
as well as their hostility to officers who were not of their 
faith (particularly the Judiciary), led to the withdrawal of all 



* The following is an extract from a letter written by one of the most promi- 
nent apostles to explain why the memorial was presented. The letter appears 
in the Telegraph of February 28, 1867: 

u In my late travels through this district, I have often been asked the ques- 
tion : * Why did the Legislative Assembly again memoralize Congress for the 
admission of the territory into the Union as a State, after having so often done 
so before and so often been rejected ?' My answer has been, c We wish to do 
the will of Heaven by asking for those rights and privileges which the Most 
High hath vouchsafed to us in the constitution of our common country. When 
forced away from our homes in Missouri, we were commanded of the Lord to 
importune for redress at the feet of the Judge, and if he heeded us not, we were 
required to importune at the feet of the Governor; and if the Governor heeded 
us not, then we were to importune at the feet of the President; and if he heed- 
ed us not, then would the Lord arise and come out of his hiding-place, and in 
his fury vex the nation, and in his hot displeasure, and in his fierce anger, in his 
time, would cut off those wicked, unfaithful, and unjust stewards, and appoint 
them their portion among hypocrites and unbelievers ; even in outer darkness, 
where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.' 

"The foregoing instructions were given to the church in the month of De- 
cember, 1833 (see Book of Covenants, third European edition, page 283, sec- 
tion 12). Since the date of the commandment referred to, has the nation been 
vexed with a sore vexation, and is it still vexed ? Have many rulers singularly 
disappeared from their official stations ? These questions inspire grief and sor- 
row in every feeling breast ; so much so that I answer them not, but leave the 
reader to furnish his own answer." 

So our national troubles are made by this writer to be attributable to the 
failure of the Government in the discharge of its duty to the Latter Day Saints, 
and it is intimated that President Lincoln and others have been sent to hell for 
denying to them their rights. The writer further remarks that the continued 
refusal* of Congress " will cause the nation to mourn more sadly than it ever 
yet has done." 



THE MORMON CHURCH. 113 

such officers from the territory. The overt act, that brought 
about the bloodless " Mormon War," was the seizure of 
the records of the United States courts in the office of Judge 
Styles, one of the associate Justices of the territory. This 
was done by order of the President, during the absence of 
the Judge from his office, and the parties who carried out the 
President's instructions also destroyed the private property 
of the Judge. Soon thereafter Judge Styles withdrew from 
the territory and reported the fact at Washington. Mr. 
Buchanan then appointed other territorial officers in the 
place of Mormons, including Governor A. Cumming to re- 
lieve Brigham Young. The Secretary of War was direct- 
ed to send a sufficient body of troops with the Governor to 
the territory to act as a posse comitatus in requiring the en- 
forcement of the laws. 

Nothing more was contemplated. It was not the inten- 
tion of the Government to inflict upon the Mormons any 
punishment for their past lawlessness, but to make them 
more mindful "of law in the future, by stationing this body of 
troops in the territory. The commanding officer of the ex- 
pedition expected no opposition to the march of his forces 
into the territory, and was so fully of the impression that 
they would submit quietly, that he sent an officer in advance 
of the column to purchase grain in Salt Lake City for the 
army upon its arrival there. 

Brigham Young, however, regarded it as a hostile move- 
ment, and not only refused to sell the officer supplies, but 
upon the day of his arrival in the city issued his proclama- 
tion declaring martial law, and calling out the militia to re- 
sist a " hostile force who are evidently assailing us (the 
Mormons) to accomplish our destruction and overthrow." 

The army marched onward, until it arrived in the vicinity 
of where Fort Bridger now stands, when their supplies be- 
came scant because of trains failing to come up, and the 
capture of some by the Mormons, and they encamped on 
Black's Fork for the winter. While there Brigham address- 
ed a communication to the then Colonel A. Sidney John- 
ston (who afterward distinguished himself and lost his life 



ii 4 THE MORMON CHURCH. 

in the rebel army), warning him to leave the territory by 
the same route he entered ; but in the event Colonel John- 
ston desired to remain over winter, he might " do so in peace 
and unmolested," provided he would deposit his arms and 
ammunition with the Quartermaster-General of the ter- 
ritory, and " leave in the spring, or as soon as the roads 
would permit him to march." It is unnecessary to add > 
that neither modest request was complied with. While the 
army was approaching, the Mormons were fortifying Echo 
Canon, to prevent its penetrating further into the territory. 

The only act of hostility committed during the campaign, 
was the destruction of two supply trains, belonging to John- 
ston's army. This was done by a band of horsemen, sup- 
posed to have been commanded by Porter Rockwell, who 
figures conspicuously in Mormon history as one of the 
Danites, or " avenging angels." 

General Johnston was not acting under orders to attack 
the Mormons, even if he had been so situated as to do so 
advantageously, and this act of hostility would have been a 
most excellent pretext for accepting war, and then and for- 
ever settling the question of Mormonism in our country, if 
it had been at a season when it could have been taken ad- 
vantage of. Neither the defences of Echo Canon, nor the 
size of the Mormon army, were by any means the cause of it 
not being. The army was short of supplies, as I have already 
stated, and the severity of the winter prevented all aggres- 
sive measures. Before the time arrived when the army 
could have acted, a semi-Mormon succeeded in arranging 
for an interview between Brigham Young and Governor 
Cumming, in Salt Lake City, when the exceeding 
plausibility of the former so favorably impressed the Gover- 
nor, that he immediately communicated the result of his in- 
terview to the President, when a commission was sent out 
to treat with Brigham. He satisfied them of his loyalty, and 
produced the records of the courts, which he had only stolen 
and not destroyed. The diplomacy of Brigham was equal 
to the occasion, and very speedily an agreement was en- 
tered into by which the command of General Johnston was 



DOCTRINE, &c. 115 

allowed to march through Salt Lake City and establish Camp 
Floyd, about forty miles distant. 

This large body of troops in the territory scattered hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars throughout the country, and 
when the army was withdrawn a large quantity of supplies, 
with mules and wagons, were disposed of for mere nominal 
sums. In some places bacon was sold at one dollar for 
sacks containing a hundred pounds, when the retail price of 
the article was seventy-five cents per pound. 

The Mormon expedition, then, resulted in incalculable 
pecuniary benefit to the people, in still further demonstation 
of the ability of their leader, and in strengthening their 
confidence in their cause and their ability to resist the Gov- 
ernment, which may yet lead to bloodshed and their ruin. 

I should have stated that Brigham Young yielded grace- 
fully the nominal Governorship of the territory to Gover- 
nor dimming at the first interview they had. 

Since the troops entered Utah in 1857, tne Mormons have 
been under but little better subjugation. They have not 
been quite so open and bold in their opposition to the Gov- 
ernment as before, but notwithstanding there is a secret 
hatred and defiance of it, so deeply rooted in them, that it 
cannot be removed as long as their present system exists. 
A remedy for the evil I will discuss in a future letter. 



CHAPTER XV. 



DOCTRINE OF THE MORMON CHURCH. POLYGAMY. 

Having reviewed in the last letter the political history of 
the Mormons, I now submit something concerning their 
teachings and practices of the present day. 

Their published articles of faith are as follows: 

1. " We believe in God, the Eternal Father j and his Son 
Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 



u6 DOCTRINE OF THE 

2. "We believe that men will be punished for their own 
sins, and not for Adam's transgressions. 

3. "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ 
all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and or- 
dinances of the Gospel. 

4. " We believe these ordinances are, 1st, Faith in the 
Lord Jesus ; 2nd, Repentance ; 3d, Baptism by immersion 
for the remission of sins ; 4th, Laying on of hands by the 
gift of the Holy Spirit ; 5th, the " Lord's Supper." 

5.'" We believe that man must be called of God by in- 
spiration, and by laying on of hands from those who are 
duly commissioned to preach the Gospel and administer in 
the Ordinances thereof. 

6. " We believe in the same organization that existed in 
■the primitive Church, viz: Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, 
Evangelists, etc. 

7. " We believe in the powers and gifts of the everlast- 
ing Gospel, viz : the Gift of Faith, discerning of Spirits, 
prophecy, revelations, visions, healing, tongues, and the in- 
terpretation of tongues, wisdom, charity, brotherly love, etc. 

8. " We believe the word of God recorded in the Bible; 
we also believe the Word of God recorded in the Book of 
Mormon, and in all other good books. 

9. "We believe all that God has revealed, all that he 
does now reveal, and we believe that he will reveal many 
more great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom 
of God and Messiah's second coming. 

10. " We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in 
the restoration of the Ten Tribes ; that Zion will be es- 
tablished upon the Western Continent, and that Christ will 
reign personally upon the earth for a thousand years ; and 
that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal 
glory. 

11. " We believe in the literal resurrection of the body, and 
that the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand 
years are expired. 

12. "We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty 
God according to the dictates of conscience unmolested, and 



MORMON CHURCH.— POLYGAMY. 117 

allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how or 
when they may. 

13. "We believe in being subject to Kings, Queens, 
Presidents, Rulers, and Magistrates, in obeying, honoring 
and sustaining the law. 

14. u We believe in being honest, true, chaste, temper- 
ate, benevolent, virtuous, and upright, and in doing good to 
all men ; indeed, we may say that we follow the admoni- 
tion of Paul ; we believe all things, we hope all things, we 
have endured very many things and hope to be able to en- 
dure all things. Everything lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy, 
and of good report, we seek after, looking forward to the 
recompense of reward ; but an idle or lazy person cannot 
be a Christian, neither have salvation. He is a drone, and 
destined to be stung to death, and tumbled out of the hive." 

This strange admixture of doctrines, culled from the tenets 
of almost every religious, as well as pagan sect, is modified 
from time to time to better suit their materialistic views, in- 
crease the despotism of the church, and sanction their lustful 
pleasures. 

There are many very absurd doctrines now taught, which 
are not warranted by the articles I have quoted nor taught 
in their original works on theology. Materialism is hinted 
at in the articles ; but is very plainly taught in some ot 
their writings as well as in their discourses. Orson Pratt, 
one of the " Twelve," a noted writer in the church, and ex- 
pounder of the faith, and perhaps the smartest man among 
them, in explaining their belief in this particular, is guilty of 
the following irreverent and profane language, as recorded 
in " The Seer" a work edited by him and published in 
Liverpool : 

"The Father is a material being. The substance of His 
person occupies space. It has mobility, length, breadth and 
thickness, like other matter. The substance of His person 
cannot be in two places at the same time. It requires time 
for him to transport himself from place to place." Again he 
says : " The resemblance between God and man has refer- 



u8 DOCTRINE OF THE 

ence to shape and figure. Man has legs and so has God, 
as it is evident from His appearance to Abraham. Man 
walks with his legs, so does God. God cannot only walk 
but He can move up and down through the air without using 
his legs. He can waft himself from world to world by His 
self-moving power," etc. 

On this same subject I might quote higher authority than 
Orson Pratt. During the visit of Mr. Colfax to Salt Lake 
City in 1865, he requested the President to preach a sermon 
on the doctrines of the church, and Mr. Colfax went the 
next day to the tabernacle to hear him. In this sermon, Mr. 
Bowles reports him as having said : 

" That God was a human natural person, with like flesh 
and blood and passions as ourselves, only perfect in all things ; 
that He begot his Son Jesus in the same way children are 
begotten now ; that Jesus and the Father looked alike, only 
the Father looked older." 

Concerning the materiality of the third person in the Trini- 
ty, the writer I first cited remarks : 

" The Holy Ghost is also a material substance. It exists 
in vast immeasurable quantities in all natural worlds. God 
the Father, and God the Son cannot be everywhere pres- 
ent ; indeed they cannot be in two places at the same time -, 
but God the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. No one atom of 
the Holy Spirit can be in two places at the same instant. 
Each atom is intelligent, and like other matter has validity, 
etc. If several atoms of the Spirit should exist united 
together in the form of a person, then this person of the 
Holy Spirit would be subject to the same necessity as the 
other two persons in the Godhead ; that is, it could not be 
everywhere present," etc. 

They also teach that Adam is the God of this world, and 
I believe they make it out in some way that he was a polyg- 
amist. 

Referring to Adam, reminds me of an individual, a little 
more crazy than most Mormons, who imagined himself to 
be God of this world. He had had a wife who was not 
much sounder in mind. It seemed to be a monomania 



MORMON CHURCH.— POLYGAMY. 119 

with him as he was a man of some education and of cer- 
tainly ordinary intelligence on most subjects, but he con- 
tended that Adams' spirit had transmigrated into his body, 
and that he had been six thousand years looking for Eve, 
whom he found only the year before I saw him. Eve, it 
seems, had been acting badly according to his own state- 
ment, for when he found her, he said she had become a base 
prostitute, but he intended to elevate her to her proper po- 
sition in society. He declared her to be his mate; so de- 
creed from the beginning of time, but he treated her in the 
most barbarous manner, explaining that it was all intended 
to give her a proper idea of her inferiority. For this reason, 
or some other, Adam cut her hair short to her head, and 
pulled out all her teeth. They started together, on foot, 
for the States from Salt Lake City, and as such garments 
were more convenient for pedestrians, he dressed her in 
men's clothes. There is no asylum in Utah for providing 
for this class of citizens, and if there were, I doubt whether 
they could have the benefit of it, as they were not orthodox 
Mormons, but Josephites. But this is digressing from 
the subject of this letter. To keep the run of the doctrines 
of the Mormon Church would require a close attention to 
the teachings of the " Zion of the Lord," and to current 
revelation; I do not propose to criticize them here as 
absurd, as many of them are. They are only ques- 
tions of opinion, and with their opinions I have no dis- 
position to meddle. It is about their practices I have most 
to say. 

After the subject of doctrine, I may as well refer next to 
their church government. In the Mormon Church there are a 
greater number and variety of officials than in any other sect 
with which I am familiar. But, notwithstanding this apparent 
division of authority, it is probable the greatest ecclesiastical 
despotism now extant. The head of the church has in his 
power the lives and property of his deluded followers, and 
to him all acknowledge the most profound allegiance, while 
the masses virtually worship him. As he is not nominally 
the only power in the church, I will proceed to explain the 



120 DOCTRINE OF THE 

different branches of the hierarchy, which consists of the 
following.: 

I. The Presidency. This consists of three individuals, 
Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Daniel H. Wells 
(the latter also Mayor of Salt Lake City, Secretary of State 
of the State of Deseret, and Lieutenant-General of the mi- 
litia of the territory, the act of Congress abolishing such 
office to the contrary notwithstanding). They are known 
respectively as the ist, 2d and 3d presidents, and constitute 
the supreme power among the Mormons, both in temporal 
matters and ecclesiastical. Brigham Young is the power that 
controls the presidency, and the presidency controls the peo- 
ple. They claim divine authority for all their acts, but are 
elected by the people, the masses of whom regard the first 
president as unsurpassed in wisdom by any save the Omni- 
scient. His mandate, or, rather, a simple expression of his 
wishes, without making it a command, is undisputed au- 
thority, and is obeyed implicitly. As policy on the part of 
this autocracy, it is nominally made to be responsible to the 
twelve apostles ; but so implicit is the faith of the apostle, 
that their judgment and conscience would yield at once if 
they presumed for a moment to question the wisdom of their 
seer. 

II. The Patriarch. This official is one who administers 
solely in spiritual matters, and his duties consist in bestow- 
ing patriarchal blessings upon the faithful who desire them, 
and are willing to pay for them. He will lay his reverend 
hands upon the head of a saint, and bless him with houses, 
and lands, and wives (number specified), and children, and 
heirship to eternal glory if faithful. These blessings are 
written out and signed by the Patriarch, and are highly 
prized by the ignorant. Of course, if the holder of the 
certificate fails to realize all that is promised therein, there 
is a saving clause for the Patriarch at the conclusion of the 
blessing, by which the failure is always satisfactorily ex- 
plained. 

John Smith, a nephew of the first prophet, now fills this 
office, and, making occasional tours through the territory, 



MORMON CHURCH.— POLYGAMY. 121 

returns laden with chickens, ducks, homespun cloth, and 
everything else which is raised or manufactured in the coun- 
try, which is portable and not immediately perishable. He 
is supported by such fees. 

III. The Twelve Apostles, or " special witnesses of the 
name of Christ in all the world." This body ranks next 
after the presidency, and have general superintendence of 
missionary labor. The apostles ordain subordinate officials 
of the clerical order, baptize, administer the sacrament, and 
are the principle preachers and expounders of the faith. The 
names of but fewofthe" Twelve" are familiar tothe public, 
because of any very conspicuous acts, and I will not enum- 
erate them here. 

IV. a The Seventy" are chosen men for missionary labor, 
and to build up the church in all her " stakes." There are 
of the original u seventy " seven presidents elected, who 
have authority to appoint other seventies, whose presidents 
may appoint still others, and the number so multiplied ad in- 
finitum, or to the extent of the wants of the church for such 
laborers in the vineyard. 

The missionaries are sent out " without purse or scrip," 
nominally. The amount of it is, their expenses are paid by 
the people or by themselves, and do not come out of the 
purse of the church. On this subject I shall say more in a 
letter on proselyting. 

V. The High Priests. This is a body of church officials, 
who are elected to administer principally in spiritual con- 
cerns, under the immediate direction of the President. 
They have authority to officiate in any office when there 
are none of the properly constituted of such officers pres- 
ent. They are not entirely an ecclesiastical body, as the 
Bishops and the High Council form part of it. The un- 
believing Gentiles say that they do the President's " dirty 
work," but in what way, if at all, I am unable to say, ex- 
cept upon the authority of general rumor. 

VI. The Bishops. Their duties pertain more to tempo- 
ral matters than to ecclesiastical. There is one appointed 
to every settlement in the territory, and one to every ward 



122 DOCTRINE OF THE 

in Salt Lake City. They are collectors of tithes, keep 
the census of their several districts, and settle difficulties 
existing among the saints, when they can do so, subject to 
appeal to higher authority. They are supposed to admin- 
ister to the spiritual wants of the people of their charge, 
and visit their homes for this purpose. In this respect 
their duties are made similar to those required of Metho- 
dist class-leaders, and are discharged about as inefficiently 
as the majority of our Methodist brethren discharge theirs. 
Bishop Hunter is the chief of the Bishops, and is the 
channel through which any matter of business the Ward 
Bishop may be unable to settle to the satisfaction of the 
parties, or any grievance, must be communicated to higher 
authoiity. 

VII. The High Council. This consists of twelve High 
Priests, with the President of the Church at its head. It 
is the highest authority to which parties may appeal when 
they feel aggrieved by the decision of their Bishop or other 
local authority. The President is required to give the de- 
cision in all cases brought before the Council when the 
others vote upon it. The reader may imagine how far the 
opinion of one who is thought incapable to err has to do 
with the vote of the Council. Its jurisdiction is confined 
to temporal matters. 

Litigation, which should properly come before United 
Stares courts, which the Mormons decline to recognize 
further than absolutely compelled to, is decided upon by the 
High Council, and from this there is no appeal. It is true 
that such cases might then be taken before a lawful court, 
but no Mormon dare do such a thing. 

Besides the officials of the church here enumerated, 
there are several other classes, known as Elders, Priests, 
Teachers, and Deacons ; but as the duties of all these are 
included among those of higher grades, and as they inter- 
lace and overlap each other, so I will not occupy more 
space in referring to them. 

It will be seen by the foregoing, that the church is vir- 
tually a State organization as much as an ecclesiastical, but 



MORMON CHURCH.— POLYGAMY. 123 

it would not be in keeping with the pretended liberality of the 
church (which I may say is in reality the most illiberal and 
despotic in the world), to have it appear that the people are 
governed in their temporal affairs by a church which is gov- 
erned by one man. So the temporal government is made 
nominally distinct. Brigham Young being deposed as 
Governor of the Territory, is still respected as the Gover- 
nor of the State of Deseret. But no such organization 
will make the church other than a temporal sovereignty. 
The President is also the Governor, the High Council is 
the Supreme Court, and the Bishops the Magistrates or 
Police Judges. 

There are United States territorial officers in Utah, but 
they are almost impotent to enforce the laws. A case requir- 
ing trial by jury would necessitate the impanelling of a jury 
of Mormons, and under no circumstances would they de- 
cide contrary to the teaching of the church, and under no 
circumstances would a Mormon apply to a United States 
judge for redress for any grievance, if indeed they could con- 
sider any outrage a grievance, after it had been adjudicated 
by their highest tribunal. 

Concerning the ridiculous absurdities of their theology, as 
well as their church government, I have nothing further to 
say. Let the reader judge of them from what I have already 
written. I am not a theologian, and as to religious views, they 
are as much entitled to their opinions as I am to mine, 
dissimilar as they are. But allowing them the fullest liber- 
ty in this respect, they cannot be permitted to disregard de- 
cency and violate law, without being held up to public op- 
probrium ; and if they persist, and other measures fail to 
remove the great evil, then the strong arm of the military 
power of the Government must be stretched forth ; but 
God forbid that such should ever become necessary. 

The one great objectionable feature of Mormonism is 
polygamy — a system of modern introduction into the church, 
which is as degrading as it is criminal to all who indulge in 
it. It is a relic of barbarism, that cannot exist in a civilized 
and refined community, and to the Mormon Church is the 



124 DOCTRINE OF THE 

mysterious handwriting upon the wall which tells too plainly 
the fate of the sect. 

Polygamy is not claimed to be a privilege allowed the 
faithful, but a religious duty enjoined by a divine revelation 
to Joseph Smith in 1843. Strange as it may seem this duty 
was not taught to the faithful until nine years after Smith 
claimed to have received the revelation. It was first pro- 
mulgated by Brigham Young, and he bungled in getting it 
before the people. He admits that the original draft of the 
revelation, as transcribed from the inspired (?) lips of the 
Prophet, was destroyed by Emma, the wife of Joseph, but 
fortunately for posterity a certain Bishop, who had been in- 
timate with Smith, had previously borrowed the document, 
and while in his possession a copy was taken, so the malice 
of Emma availed her nothing. This copy is Brigham's 
authority. A profane writer, the editor of the Salt Lake 
Telegraph, refers to polygamy as a doctrine as precious to 
the Mormons as was " that of a Redeemer born to the 
Apostles of old ; " but notwithstanding its importance it 
was withheld from the church these nine years, while Brig- 
ham claims to have had it in his possession for several. 
But he says " everything must come in its time, as there is 
a time for everything,' , and in the fullness of time ' it was 
made known. When first announced, he admitted that 
some, who could be trusted with the secret, had been pre- 
viously let into it, and had enjoyed its privileges. With 
the announcement of polygamy began the first serious 
trouble in the church. The Smith family, who had re- 
garded Brigham with jealousy since he first held the position 
claimed by the son of the first prophet, made this the pretext 
for organizing a faction, which they claim to be the true 
church of Latter Day Saints. They deny positively and 
emphatically the reception of a revelation by Smith enjoin- 
ing polygamy. The controversy so far is rather damaging 
to both parties. Brigham, and the polygamists generally 
claiming, not only that Smith was authorized to announce 
it as a doctrine of the church, but that he practiced it him- 
self. On the other hand the Josephites, or anti-polyga- 



MORMON CHURCH.— POLYGAMY. 125 

mists, point triumphantly to an official publication in the Mor- 
mon Journal at Nauvoo, dated February 1, 1844 (the year 
in which Smith was killed). It reads as follows: — 

" Notice : 

" As we have already been credibly informed that an 
Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 
by the name of Hiram Brown, has been preaching polyg- 
amy, and other false and corrupt doctrines, in the Coumv 
of Lapier and State of Michigan : 

"This is to notify him, and the church in general, that 
he has been cut off from the church for his iniquity, and he 
is further notified to appear at the Special Conference on 
the 6th of April next to answer to these charges. 

" Joseph Smith, 
" Hyram Smith, 

" Presidents of the Church."* 

Reasoning upon the presumption that Smith was an hon- 
est and truthful man (if it is admissible to suppose such a 
case in the face of the light of history, which makes him 
a base impostor), Brigham Young must have been deceived, 
or is himself a deceiver, in attributing to Smith what he had 
pronounced false and corrupt. Or take the other horn of 
the dilemma, and believe Brigham Young, then Smith, his 
great prototype, must have been a base hypocrite and deceiver, 
and certainly not one who would be ordained of Heaven \a 
establish a kingdom of righteousness upon the earth. 

On the same subject, a few months later, in the same 
year, a bull from Hyram, the second President, seems to have 
been published for the benefit of a certain community in 
which this u false and corrupt doctrine " had been taught. 

This reads as follows : — 

" Nauvoo, 111., March 15, 1844 
M To the Brethren of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 

* Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 423, 



126 DOCTRINE OF THE 

Day Saints, living on China Creek, in Hancock County, 
greeting : — 

" Whereas, Brother Richard Hewitt has called on me to- 
day, to know my views concerning some doctrines that are 
preached in your place, and states to me that some of your 
Elders say that a man having a certain priesthood may have as 
many wives as he pleases, and that that doctrine is taught 
here ; I say unto you that man preaches fake doctrine, for 
there is no such doctrine taught here, neither is there any 
such thing practiced here ; and any man that is found teach- 
ing privately or publicly any such doctrine, is culpable, and 
will stand a chance of being brought before the High Coun- 
cil, and lose his license and membership also : therefore he 
had better beware what he is about. 

" Hyram Smith."* 

John Taylor, one of the apostles (who now, by the way, 
is the husband of six wives), in 1850, only two years before 
Brigham announced the doctrine, when he admitted that it 
had been in his possession for some time, and known to 
such as should know it, declares when on a mission to 
France very positively against polygamy, as a doctrine not 
taught or recognized by the church. Mr. Hyde, in his work 
on the Mormons, says that " Taylor had four wives wrang- 
ling and quarrelling at Utah, and was paying attentions to 
a girl at Jersey, Channel Islands, at the very moment he 
uttered these wilful, intentional falsehoods ! " 

In England, the rumor of polygamy being taught in 
America, endangered the success of the cause in that 
country, as elsewhere in Europe, when Parley Pratt, to 
whom I have before referred as being murdered for running 
off with the wife of another man, thus publicly denounces 
it in a General Conference of all the European Churches 
in 1846: " Such a doctrine is not held, known, or prac- 
ticed as a principle of the Latter Day Saints. // is but an- 



* Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 477, 



MORMON CHURCH.— POLYGAMY. 127 

other name for whoredom, and is as foreign from the real 
principles of the church as the devil is from God, or as 
sectarianism is from Christianity. "* 

Mormonism then is not necessarily polygamy — at least 
it was not in its early history. The church existed for 
twenty years without the practice being known to the laity 
as an authorized one, and as I have given the opinions of 
the most prominent of the clergy on the subject, I propose 
now to notice how it is treated in their works. 

It is a singular fact that the only reference the Mormons 
make to the Bible as a guide in life, or use its teachings in 
their arguments, is when they try to defend polygamy. 
The precedents established by Abraham, David, and Solo- 
mon, referred to in the Old Testament, viewed entirely in 
the abstract, and the pretended revelation to Joseph Smith, 
are the only authorities claimed for their acts. 

Both the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrines 
and Covenants expressly condemn polygamy, and a more pos- 
itive condemnation of it we could find nowhere. Let the 
reader judge for himself from the following quotations : — 

" And it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under 
the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their 
hearts, and indulged themselves somewhat in wicked prac- 
tices, such as like unto David of old, desiring many wives 
and concubines, and also Solomon his son." 

" The word of God burdens me because of your grosser 
crimes. For beho!J,thus saith the Lord, this people begin 
to wax in iniquity ; they understand not the Scriptures, for 
they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, 
because of the things which were written concerning 
David, and Solomon his son. Behold David and Solomon 
truly had many wives and concubines, Which thing was 
abominable before me, saith the Lord; wherefore, thus saith 
the Lord, I have led this people out of the land of Jerusa- 
lem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up a 
righteous branch from the fruits of the loins of Joseph, 



♦Millennial Star, vol. 6, p. 22. 



128 DOCTRINE OF THE 

wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people 
shall be like unto them of old. Wherefore, my brethren, 
hear me, and harken to the word of the Lord, for there 
shall not any man among you have save one wife, and con- 
cubines he shall have none, for I, the Lord God, deligkteth 
in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomina- 
tion before me ; thus saith the Lord."* 

Again : 

" Behold the Lamanites, your brethren, whom ye hate 
because of their fllthiness, and the cursing that have come 
upon their skins, are more righteous than you -, for they 
have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which 
was given unto our fathers, that they should have save one 
wife ; and concubines they should have none, and there 
should not whoredom be committed among them."')" 

To give force and applicability to these quotations, the 
teachings of the book, as if to prevent the use of the ar- 
gument that such teachings were intended only for the na- 
tions to whom they were directly given, says that " the 
Lord speaketh unto one nation like unto another, to prove 
that he is an unchangeable God. "J 

The Book of Doctrines and Covenants the Mormons 
believe to be as much an inspired work as the Book of Mor- 
mon, and to hold to it the same relation that Christians con- 
sider the New Testament to have to the Old. This book 
is equally as explicit on polygamy. It is represented to con- 
sist of the later revelations. Hear what it has to say : § 

" Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and cleave 
unto her and none else, and he that looketh upon a woman to 
lust after her shall deny the faith, and shall not have the 
spirit, and if he repents not shall be cast out. || 

" And again I say unto you that whoso forbids to marry 



♦Book of Mormon, pp. 1 1 6 and 1 1 8. 

t Ibid. p. 219. 

\ Book of Mormon, p. 107. 

§ Book of Mormon, p. 107. 

||Book of Doctrines and Covenants, p. 124. 



MORMON CHURCH.— POLYGAMY. 129 

is not ordained of God ; for marriage is ordained of God 
unto man : wherefore it is lawful that he should have one 
wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the 
earth might answer the end of its creation, and that it might 
be filled with the measure of man according to his crea- 
tion.* 

The most remarkable and explicit of all authority on the 
subject is contained in an appendix to the Book of Doctrines 
and Covenants, which was published after the date of the 
pretended revelation authorizing polygamy, and the quotation 
itself purports to be a revelation, strange as it may seem, re- 
ceived about the time of the one entirely contradicting it. 

It reads as follows : 

" Marriage should be celebrated with prayer and thanks- 
giving, and at the solemnization the persons to be married 
standing together, etc., he (the person officiating) shall say, 
calling each by their names, c you do mutually agree to be 
each other's companions, husband and wife, observing the 
legal rights belonging to this condition, that is, keeping 
yourselves wholly for each and from all others during your lives,' 
and when they shall have answered, c yes,' he shall pronounce 
them husband and wife, in the name of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, by virtue of the laws of the country (which prohibit 
polygamy) and by authority vested in him. " 

"Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached 
with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that 
we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman 
but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at 
liberty to marry again. "f 

I have already quoted from the Book of Mormon to show 
the universality of the application of its precepts to the 
whole church. Then we have in their New Testament a 
passage enjoining obedience to such teachings as had already 
been received, which reads: — 

Thou shalt take the things which thou hast received 



(t 



* ibid. P . 218. 

f Book of Doctrines and Covenants, pp. 330, 331. 



130 DOCTRINE OF THE 

which have been given unto thee in my scriptures, for a law, 
to be my law, to govern my church, and he that doeth 
according to these things shall be saved, and he that doeth 
them not shall be damned, if he continues."* 

The teachings of their scriptures on the subject of polgy- 
amy I have shown to be emphatic. Now let the reader con- 
sider these in connection with the late revelation on the 
subject of polygamy which is too long to be inserted here, 
but more particularly with the following paragraph in it : 

" For all these having this law (the law requiring polyga- 
my) revealed unto them, must obey the same, for behold I re- 
veal unto you a new and everlasting covenant, and if ye 
abide not that covenant ye are damned." 

By the Book of Doctrines and Covenants the saints are 
required to obey its teachings, and those of the Book of 
Mormon (and these prohibit polygamy), or they will be damn- 
ed, and by this new revelation they are required to do ex- 
actly the opposite, or they will be damned. On this sub- 
ject they would appear as in a strait betwixt two. 

There is another paragraph in this remarkable revelation 
which must be exceedingly comforting to the married saints, 
who believe in it as divine, and it is surprising that an un- 
married man among the faithful remains in Utah. I sup- 
pose, however, it is intended to apply only to those who 
have duplicated their wives, though by the letter of the re- 
velation, the monogamists may claim its benefits also. It 
reads as follows: — 

" Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, ac- 
cording to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit 
of promise, according to my appointment, she shall com?nit any 
sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant what- 
ever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if he commit no 
murder, wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come 
forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation" etc. 

Here then the saints have a carte blanche from the Almighty 

♦Ibid. p. 107. 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 131 

to become adulterers, rogues, liars, and blasphemers, and 
finally " enter into their exaltation," upon condition that 
they will "marry a wife according to covenant." The con- 
dition is certainly a very easy one to comply with, as the 
majority of all Christendom are marrying without expecting 
any such benefits. The number of each sex in Utah is 
about equal, and a general application of the revelation, and 
not confine it to polygamists, would be very effectual, I 
should think, in stopping the practice, particularly if its bene- 
fits were extended to women, who, poor creatures, are de- 
pendent upon their husbands for salvation, as they believe. 



CHAP. XVI. 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 



It is far from my purpose to enter into any argument 
against a practice so unnatural, so degrading, and so abhor- 
rent to the better feelings of the refined of all Christian na- 
tions, as polygamy is. Nothing that I might write, in the 
way of argument, would benefit the masses of this infatuated 
people, if circulated amongst them, which it never would 
be ; but it is to enlighten the public that they may under- 
stand the abominations that exist, that I write. That polyg- 
amy was strongly reprehended in the early history of the 
church they have been taught by some of their own people, 
who now form the sect of Josephites, and many of the older 
Mormons knew such to have been the case; but so great is 
their delusion, that they blindly adhere to the teachings of 
Brigham Young, however inconsistent they may be. 

Motives of policy, combined with a desire for the gratifi- 
cation of the baser passions and lusts, were most unques- 
tionably concerned with the prophet who first authorized 
and practiced polygamy, and whether that prophet was 



132 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

Joseph Smith or Brigham Young, it matters not. The 
existence of the sect seemed to depend upon it. Twen- 
ty-one years' experience had settled that question. Proselyt- 
ing would not make the sect as numerous as the dreams of 
its founders would have it. Those who became proselytes, 
through honest motives, were liable to apostatize when they 
saw their error ; but if the church should be built of the 
progeny of those who remained faithful, their allegiance to 
it would be stronger. We all know the effect of early edu- 
cation upon the religious status of our lives. Moreover 
their children could be kept in more complete ignorance of 
everything outside of Mormonism, which is another desir- 
able consideration. With the impure and lustful, neither 
such practical arguments as this, or a revelation enjoining it 
as a duty, with the promise of increased happiness in the 
eternal world, were necessary to their acceptance of the new 
doctrine. For society to tolerate their licentiousness was 
sufficient. But a more powerful influence must operate 
upon the poor deluded woman to induce her voluntarily to 
live in a state so unnatural, and so degrading. The revela- 
tion meets that end. It both promises reward and threatens 
punishment. Marriage, by it, is made essential to happiness 
in heaven. It is a part of their theology that an unmarried 
woman can enter there only in a menial capacity to those 
more highly favored, and to such it is not even represented 
as that desirable place which the most contracted views 
of any Christian would regard it to be. 

Celibacy in man is not represented to be so punished, 
though it is greatly deprecated, and his glory in the eternal 
world, it is declared, will be proportionate with the number of 
wives he may have been the means of introducing there, and 
the number of his children will constitute the size of his 
eternal kingdom. Hence the importance of multiplying 
wives. 

Not only is increased glory held up to women, who will 
marry, but to do so is a paramount duty, enjoined by the 
great head of the Church. Very many simple, confiding 
honest women are by such arguments induced to enter into 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 133 

polygamy, and render their lives miserable with the hope of 
receiving the reward promised for such sacrifices. Is it not 
natural and beautiful for woman to be influenced by just such 
motives ? The occupants of nuns' cloisters all over Chris- 
tendom enter their seclusion for the opposite mode of life, 
with not dissimilar convictions of duty from those which 
actuate the more sincere of the Mormon women, when they 
become the second, third or twentieth wife. But in addi- 
tion to the conviction of duty, and greater security which 
prompts the nun in her course, the Mormon woman is 
driven to it as the only possible way of securing the glory 
to which she aspires. 

Upon what other reasonable hypothesis can we account 
for their acts. Certainly the Mormon woman knows that 
it is foreign to her nature to be made happy in such rela- 
tions, and all, of both sexes, who have observed the work- 
ings of polygamy, know the tendency is to, and that it does^ 
degrade woman. The female Mormon is early taught that 
she is the inferior of man in everything, and she aspires to 
be his equal in nothing. She becomes a wife, knowing that 
she is to be made a servant, rather than a companion and 
helpmate, and the true relations of the connubial state are 
entirely perverted. 

At present I have no doubt wives become such of their 
own accord, with the influences to which I have referred 
operating when such are necessary ; but there is pretty 
strong evidence that In the earlier history of polygamy 
women were compelled to marry. Judge Cradlebaugh told 
me that when he was United States Judge in Utah, in 1858, 
he had the most indisputable evidence that in one of the 
southern settlements of that territory, on one occasion, 
forty young girls were confined together in a house, and re- 
quired to select husbands before they were released. The 
affidavits of some of them were parts of the evidence. 

Affection on the part of man is not made the foundation 
— the first step toward even a contemplation — of marriage, 
as it should be, but he enters into it after being somewhat 
attracted for mere expediency ; and not to attribute to him 



*34 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 



baser motives, which I leave to the imagination of the 
reader, to discharge what he believes a religious duty, with- 
out a thought of the holy and intimate relationship which 
should exist between husband and wife. 

The woman is taken that she may become the mother of 
his children, and the church benefited by her progeny, 
and she, from the fact of being a wife, is to have her 
eternal glory increased. Thus the husband's discharge of 
duty is also a great act of magnanimity, which is to re- 
dound to his future happiness. This is the most favorable 
construction that can be put on the motives of a Mormon 
polygamist. 

That woman is degraded by polygamy, is a fact of which 
I have had the most unquestionable evidence, in my own 
observation, and from the reliable testimony of others, who 
have had better opportunities of witnessing the practical 
workings of their iniquitous system. 

The polygamous wife of a Mormon is rendered unhappy 
by all manner of jealousies incident to her life. The piety 
and affection of a Sarah could not restrain her feelings 
under such circumstances, and the Mormon wife, with 
Hagars, and Ishmaels, and Isaacs, often multiplied, could 
hardly be expected to. But in addition to these natural 
causes of discontent, arise the unavoidable trials that grow 
out of her debased situation, in being regarded and treated 
as the inferior of man — the " weaker vessel " in every- 
thing. Abraham loved Sarah, whatever may have been his 
feelings toward Hagar, but where is the Mormon who really 
loves his wife ? 

There is a class of "celestial wives," consisting of 
women who are sealed as spiritual wives for eternity only. 
They are not supposed to be regarded or treated as wives 
in this life, but are married to secure to themselves greater 
happiness in heaven. Brigham Young has a number of 
this class, in addition to his eighteen or twenty terrestrial 
wives. The " sealed wives " are to have the same privi- 
leges in heaven as if they had been bona fide wives on 
earth. Indeed, unless a wife is sealed to her husband for 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 135 

eternity, she loses all claim to exaltation in glory. Then 
there is marrying for time, and sealing for eternity, and 
either may exist without the other. A woman may have a 
pretty good fellow for a husband, so far as his social rela- 
tions with her here are concerned ; but she may be a little 
dubious about his standing in the celestial world, hence she 
becomes " sealed " to Brigham Young or Heber C. Kim- 
ball, or to the late Joseph the Prophet, by getting some one 
to act as his proxy, Such a course I should think would 
excite jealousy on the part of the earthly husband, if the 
man's esteem for his wife (for I cannot, admit the exis- 
tence of a stronger feeling) is sufficient to render him ca- 
pable of feeling jealous. Only those who are "sealed," I 
suppose, know all the privileges connected with the relation 
here, and Mr. Hyde seems to doubt the chastity of such, 
as he says in his work, " when a woman sinks low enough 
to prefer another man for her pseudo-eternal husband, she 
is certainly sunk low enough to sin in deed as well as in 
thoughts 

Marriage to a first wife is comparatively a very trifling 
affair, and the ceremony may be performed by an Elder, 
Deacon, Priest, Bishop, or any other church official — and 
their name is legion — afcer a mutual agreement between the 
interested parties, as in Christian communities. But this is 
only marrying. If the parties wish to be " sealed" anoth- 
er, and what is regarded as a more sacred and spiritual ser- 
vice, is required. Formerly this was performed only by the 
President, and must take place before the altar in the En- 
dowment House. A press of business in that line caused 
Brigham to delegate to Heber C, his first colleague, this 
duty. 

It is not quite so simple for a saint to become a polyg- 
amist as the terrestrial husband of a first wife. The second, 
and all suosequent marriages, must be periormed by the 
President before the altar. The several necessary prelimin- 
ary steps are as follows : — 

The man must make known to the President his desire 
to marry a particular lady. Then the President pretends to 



136 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

ascertain the will of God concerning the contemplated 
marriage. If it is agreeable, the man is then authorized to 
marry again. Next he communicates with the parents of 
the lady, and they being willing, he then consults the lady 
herself. I think if I were a young lady I would prefer 
taking part a little earlier in the action. The finale of the 
preliminaries is to obtain the consent of the first wife, when 
the three go together to the Endowment House, and all 
participate in the ceremony. 

If the first wife withholds her consent, as she has a re- 
cognized right to do, the husband may submit the case to 
the President, when the wife is summoned before him 
to make known her objections. If they are not strong or 
tangible, they are overruled as being capricious, and the 
man is married with the omission of the part provided 
for the first wife in the ceremony. 

Cases sometimes occur where the first wife is capable of 
interposing very serious obstacles, when the difficulty can be 
remedied only by divorce, which is easily obtained as I shall 
hereafter show, or by causing the wife to waive her ob- 
jections through fear, or because of other influences that 
may be brought to bear. I will give an example of this 
kind. A Mormon residing in Salt Lake City, having already 
one wife, desired to add to the number, and had selected 
the widow of a brother, who had died a few years before, to 
share his connubial relations with the other wife. She ob- 
jected, however, not to his marrying again, but to the woman 
he wanted to marry, and proved herself to be a good Mor- 
mon by offering to select for him another who would be 
more congenial than the sister-in-law. Rather than submit 
the case to the President he yielded, and accepted the choice 
of the wife, a buxom young girl, and soon the three were 
made one flesh. 

But the husband appeared to prefer a particular wife rather 
than a mere multiplication of them, and the last marriage 
proved to be rather an unhappy one ; he still longed for the 
brother's widow. The first wife remained inexorable, and 
as a dernier resort he appealed to the president. The wife 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 137 

number one was then brought up to state her objections. She 
did so in a very business-like or lawyer-like way, and among 
other things specified that her faith in the doctrine of polyg- 
amy was not shaken, for she had only a short time before 
consented to her husband marrying a second wife, in order 
that his kingdom might be increased, and would consent to 
his marrying a third for a similar purpose ; but the woman 
he wished to marry was old, had already been a wife without 
having borne children, hence the probability was that the 
great end of marriage, the multiplication of the race, would 
not be subserved. A more powerful argument could not 
have been submitted to the president, and he dare not overrule 
it (if he dared not do anything). The Saint was a friend of 
Brigham, and he wanted to accommodate him, therefore he 
divorced the two wives the man had alreadv, and married 
him to the woman of his choice. * 

Polygamy in its best phases and surroundings is bad enough, 
but the marrying of relatives and incest as practised in 
Utah is most abominable and disgraceful. 

Marrying several members of the same family relation- 
ship is by no means uncommon. For several sisters to be 
wives of one man, and mothers and daughters also, are of 
frequent occurrences. One of the principal merchants of 
Salt Lake City married three sisters all of whom are still 
living. But one of the most disgraceful cases of incest I 
have seen recorded was the marriage of a well known indi- 
vidual to his half sister. This is an indisputable fact. She 
lived in her brother's family for several months, generally 
regarded as one of the wives of Brigham Young, but when 
about giving birth to her first child she announced to her 
brother's other wives (for he had two others) that he was 



* In this case, as in all others that I may cite in illustration of the customs 
and lives of the Mormons, I have the names of the parties referred to ; but as 
the mention of them in no instance would add to the interest of the narrative, 
and in some cases would cause an unwarranted mortification to friends of the 
parties, whom I respect, if these letters should fall into their hands, I withhold 
them. 



*7 



138 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

the father of her child, the announcement quite surprised the 
household, as well as the community, and was for a time 
the subject of gossip, but as the woman had been married 
by the president it was regarded as above suspicion of wron? 
For several years she continued to live with her half-broth- 
er bearing other children by him, and no effort was then 
made to conceal the double relationship. Her mother was 
also the mother of her husband, living in the family ; and 
finally her treatment by her brother-husband became so cruel 
that she left his house and sought refuge at Camp Douglas, 
and afterward with her mother went back to the States 
with a company of Josephites. Another shocking feature 
in this case was the brother and husband's charge of a want 
of chastity in her relations to other men. 

I know of one instance of a Mormon proposing to marry a 
widow lady, her daughter of sixteen, and a woman she had as a 
servant, and to bind himself to marry a younger daughter as 
soon as she was of marriageable age. The proposition being 
declined, he made a bold attempt to obtain the servant alone; 
but he railed in this also, not without making a rather 
unusual effort however, and the dernier resort, which ter- 
minated his unsuccessful suit, was the promise that if the 
woman would have him he would give her the best 
hog in his stye, which she might sell, and use the 
money as she pleased. Here is an example for the benefit 
of young ladies in the States as to the appreciation of their 
sex in Utah, one of them being regarded as about the 
equivalent of a hog. The individual was about sixty years 
of age, and had a son of twenty, who subsequently sought 
and obtained the hand of the maid. Taking the father's 
age as the maximum of marriageable years, while the mini- 
mum is fourteen for girls, and sixteen for boys, we have quite 
a long period when parties are in the market as husbands or 
wives. 

As I have before remarked, the women are not required 
to marry a particular individual, or indeed to marry at all, 
if they are willing to risk the consequences ; but they are 
often " counselled " to do so. The influence of counsel 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 139 

the Mormons too well understand. With the more timid 
it amounts to a command. An intelligent lady who was a 
member of the Mormon church until she became disgusted 
with its abominations, informed me that four years ago she 
was repeatedly " counselled " to marry against her wishes, 
and on more than one occasion her bishop had been so kind 
as to name the individual he " counselled " her to marry. 

I have heard of one instance of the man and woman 
both being required to marry, on the grounds that they had 
previously agreed to do so, and afterwards flew the track. 
A saint who had one wife already, was attracted by a young 
woman in Liverpool, when on a mission there, and promised 
to marry her; but it could not be consummated in England, 
where the laws against bigamy are rigidly enforced, and as 
they had to be separated, the man placed to the credit of the 
woman in the emigration office the cost of her transporta- 
tion to Salt Lake. For some cause she did not come over 
that year, but came afterwards. Time and distance has a 
wonderful effect in cooling the ardor of lovers, and when 
there is no love, but only attraction, indifference is likely 
soon to result. Such was the case with our Elder and his 
espoused, and by mutual consent the match was regarded 
as broken. Some time afterwards Brigham learned of the 
circumstances, and the woman was required to become the 
third wife of the former missionary. I did not learn of any 
criminal intimacy existing to cause the compulsory mar- 
riage, which indeed was as much so on one party as on the 
other. 

It is not uncommon for a woman, who is the lawful wife 
of a Gentile, to leave her husband, and live as a wife of a 
Mormon. Brigham Young has a woman in his harem who 
is the wife of a gentleman in Boston, and Parley Pratt, 
once one of the most prominent apostles, was shot and 
killed by an enraged husband for taking his wife from Cali- 
fornia to Salt Lake City, and there marrying her. The 
little boy who brought me fresh water to wash the briny 
solution from my bodv, at the time of my bath in the lake, 
spoke very affectionately of his father in New Jersey, when 



i 4 o PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

his mother was living with a man in Salt Lake city. . Such 
cases are numerous. 

Bishops are often appealed to by men and women to ob- 
tain for them husbands or wives, and they are exceedingly 
accommodating in this way. The official will undertake 
the task, and go to work in as business-like way as he would 
to negotiate a loan, and perhaps bring the parties together, 
on the occasion of the marriage ceremony, for the first 
time in their lives. I think if I were a Mormon I would 
about as soon advertise in the New York Herald. 

I recently heard of a rather hurried union that took place 
a few years ago in high life in the metropolis of Mormon- 
dom. One evening, at the house of a prominent man in the 
church, a small company had assembled, including his son 
and quite an estimable young lady. After tea, the two 
happened to be sitting together on a sofa, when the thought- 
ful parent approached, and in a very blunt way, as he is in 
the habit of doing things, remarked, " Well, William, 
Mary is a good girl and will make you a good wife ; " and 
to Mary he said, "Now Mary, you can't find a better man 
for a husband than William ; so stand up here, both of you, 
and let me marry you." The lady was quite shocked, and 
at first demurred ; but after a little conversation between 
the interested, they concluded that the father was the best 
judge in such matters, and when the company separated that 
evening they were man and wife. 

Those who are familiar with the cost of a lady's ward- 
robe in New York, and other incidental expenses attending 
their movements in society, may suppose that with the more 
prominent and wealthy Mormons at least, the expense of 
keeping several women in a way to sustain the position they 
hold, would be considerable ; but such is by no means the 
case. The very large majority of Mormon wives are self- 
supporting, and required to be so. There is an exception 
in the household of the President. His wives and daugh- 
ters are not required to labor to earn money, but they at- 
tend to all their domestic concerns, and weave cloth for 
their own use, which duties are quite sufficient to keep in 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 141 

their minds a lively sense of their subordination, and at the 
same time save their husband and father numerous little 
millinery and dress-making bills, servants' wages, etc. 

With the families of most other church officials it is dif- 
ferent. The wives of the second President, Mr. Kimball, 
are publicly known as dress-makers, milliners, etc., and the 
elder of them openly speak of having been no expense to 
their husbands since they left Nauvoo. That the wives 
of the apostles labor for what they can earn I have evidence 
in a pair of gloves one of them made for me, and she 
seemed very glad to accept the patronage of a Gentile, 
though the President is decidedly opposed to reciprocating 
such business transactions, and cautions his people against 
trading with Gentiles. 

The majority of polygamists furnish their wives with 
certain necessary articles, such as rations of flour and meat, 
with wood, house-room and shoes, and they are expected 
to purchase with their own earnings all additional articles. 
They spin and weave their own cloth. A laboring man 
will, if possible, have a Danish woman as one of his wives, 
as they are usually good weavers, and can assist the others 
in making their cloth, etc. 

So it may be inferred that polygamy, under the Ikigham 
Young regime is not necessarily an expensive institution 
Indeed if a man has three or four thrifty women to work for 
him he may find them pecuniarily profitable. 

Very many of the women who marry polygamists accept 
their state from the beginning as a necessary trial, and enter 
it with a very commendable Christian fortitude, determined 
to bear their afflictions for the glory that is to follow. Mr. 
Bowles, in his work " Across the Continent," remarks that 
he met a sweet, gentle, amiable woman, with whom he 
conversed about her life as one of the wives of a polygam- 
ist, when she remarked, " That the Lord Jesus has laid a 
great trial on me, but I mean to bear it for His sake, and 
for the glory He will give me in His kingdom." What 
beautiful Christian sentiment is contained in the remark of 
Ihis poor, misguided, but sincere woman. More highly 



i 4 2 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

favored Christians might learn a lesson of true piety and 
resignation from it. 

How numerous this class of women are I can form no 
idea. It is rarely the case that one is so situated that she 
dare converse on the subject with a Gentile. Such meek- 
ness, I imagine, is not the rule, and only here and there you 
find those sweet, simple, amiable dispositions, that are more 
divine than human, whether in an honest member of a cor- 
rupt sect, or the angel-like wife of a Christian missionary 
doing good to the destitute and suffering around her. The 
tendency of Mormonism without polygamy is not to en- 
courage such piety, and with polygamy it is to root it out, 
and even destroy the natural gentler traits of character. 

Jealousy is the one great cause of unhappiness among 
the wives of a polygamist. There are other incidental 
causes constantly arising-, sufficient in themselves to mar 
the happiness of an angel on earth, but jealousy is the 
worm that gnaws at the vitals of their social life. Often 
it exists to such an extent that the several wives of a Mor- 
mon have to be furnished separate quarters, and in some 
instances they are furnished homes in different parts of the 
country. One individual I know has his wives separated 
about thirty miles, and another keeps one wife eighty 
miles from the other four. Mr. Greeley mentions, in his 
lecture on the Mormons, one family where two or mjre 
wives lived together m the same house, and would not 
speak to each other. 

The first wife is almost universally regarded by the hus- 
band with more favor than the others, which immediately 
gives rise to that dreaded passion, and at an early day she 
secures the ill-will of her " sisters." This favoritism may 
be observed in Briffham's conduct toward Amelia, his last 
wire, and from him down through all the gradations ot po- 
lygamists. The first wife, more than intermediate ones, is 
jealous or" attentions to the last; but in this respect there is 
no great difference between them, they all unite in the feel- 
ing. A lady not long ago informed me that she had visit- 
ed a house in the city where there were three wives. The 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 143 

husband was absent at the time, and the three together en- 
tertained her apparently very harmoniously, but when the 
husband came in, the last wife, certainly in bad taste, went 
and sat on his knee. This so displeased the others, that they 
immediately left the room with their guest sitting there. 

It is not uncommon for a second, third or fourth wife to 
be confined in child-bed, without the first manifesting the 
slightest interest in her case. At first blush it may seem very 
unnatural for a woman to be devoid of sympathy under such 
circumstances. But it must also be unnatural for her to 
feel much pleased when she considers the fact of her hus- 
band being the father of a child which is not her own. 

The unpleasant feeling existing between wives is not con- 
fined to them, but a want of congeniality between husband 
and wife is most marked. This naturally grows out of the 
degradation in which woman is held, to which I have before 
alluded. The belief in their systems, whether a man be- 
comes a polygamist or not, is almost certain to result in 
improper treatment of his wife, as he is taught to regard 
woman in a very different light from that in which she is 
regarded in Christian communities. I know of one case 
where this change took place. An intelligent man who be- 
came a Mormon after having lived many years as an affec- 
tionate and indulgent husband, always conferring with his 
wife in all his plans in life, and I have no doubt profiting by 
her advice. They were English, and in Liverpool he as- 
sociated a good deal with the clergy, and through them was 
led to a change in his views, as to the relation that should 
exist between husband and wife.,, Accordingly, one day he 
instructed the wife as to how she should act in the future. 
She was not to presume, thereafter, to advise or counsel 
him in anything, nor even suggest a thing that might influ- 
ence his judgment ; particularly if she held different views 
from himself; that if he should contemplate marrying 
other women she was not to oppose him in any way, but 
quietly to submit. This was exactly the opposite to what 
he seemed to desire up to the moment of the conversation, 
and the change was to be as sudden as it was radical. 



i 4 4 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY 

I have before spoken of the resignation and submission 
with which wives accept their lot, and of the causes of their 
unhappiness, but it is not common for them to admit that 
polygamy is the real cause of their discontent. I cited one 
case where the woman was willing to submit to it all in a 
good Christian spirit ; but jccasionally one is found who 
talks plainly of her situation. One of the wives of an apos- 
tle has frequently been heard to reproach herself for present 
unhappiness. She recently remarked to a friend ^ If I had 
not been the thing I was, to marry as I did, I would not be 
so unhappy now ; but I have no one but myself to blame, 
I did it all." This same lady is often emphatic in her in- 
junctions to her daughter, in the presence of others, never 
to marry until she is sure of having a husband of her own. 
This class I have no doubt is more numerous than the one 
I referred to elsewhere. 

A Mormon wife who does not become a mother within 
a reasonable time after marriage, suffers in the estimation in 
which she is held by the Saints generally, and if she should 
happen to have a second husband and still no issue she is 
almost despised by her sex. This, however, does not ap- 
ply to Amelia, the last wife of Brigham, who has been mar- 
ried two or three years, as her unfruitfulness may be ac- 
counted for from natural causes. 

The tendency of polygamy being to immorality general- 
ly, I might refer to indecency in conversation as particular- 
ly observed. This occurs with women and children as well 
as men. Several wives of onelman, with their children 
present, have been known to indulge in such indecent con- 
versation as would bring the blush to the face of a modest 
woman if repeated to her alone. The result of this may be 
seen in the precociousness of their children in certain ways. 
Urchins of eight or nine, know more of what they should 
not know, than youths of sixteen or eighteen in a refined 
community. They are not only afforded opportunities of 
thus corrupting their minds, but often encouraged to do so. 






CHAPTER XVII 

POLYGAMY CONTINUED. 

That the wives of polygamists in Utah are unhappy and 
discontented I have already endeavored to show, and it is a 
fact patent to all who have observed them. But the reader 
will be somewhat surprised to learn that discontent and 
"whining," as it is called, existed, even in the harem of the 
Prophet, as long ago as 1856. That such was the case 
Brigham Young admitted in a sermon preached in the 
tabernacle that year for the special benefit of the women. 
Polygamy among them — that is among all but the few that 
had been favored, was in its infancy ; but the little leaven of 
discontent existing then, even in high places, has been 
going on leavening the whole. Brigham's plain talk on this 
occasion was as follows : 

" Now for my proposition. It is more particularly for 
the sisters, as it is frequently happening that women say 
they are unhappy. Men will say : ' My wife, though a 
most excellent woman, has not seen a happy day since I 
took my second wife.' c No, not a happy day for a year,* 
says one ; and another has not seen a happy day for five 
years (and such must have been among the clandestine 
wives of polygamists, for \t had not been published as a 
doctrine of the church but four years before). It is said 
that women are tied down and abused, that they are mis- 
used, and that thev are wading through a perfect flood of 
tears because of the folly of some men as well as their 
own folly. 



146 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

" I wish my women (Heber Kimball sometimes calls his 
wives his cows,) to understand that what I am going to say is 
for them as well as others, and I want those that are here 
to tell their sisters — yes, all the women in the country — 
and then write it back to the States, and do as you please 
with it. I am going to give you from this time to the 6th 
day of October next (the day the semi-annual conference 
was to meet) for reflection, that you may determine whether 
you wish to stay with your husbands or not ; and then I am 
going to set every wo?nan at liberty, and say to them : ' Now, 
go your way. My own women with the rest, go your way. J 
And my wives have got to do one of two things — either 
round up their shoulders and endure the afflictions of this 
world, and love their religion, or they may leave, for I will 
not have them about me. I will go into heaven alone rather 
than have scratching and fighting around me. I will set all 
at liberty. What, first wife too ? Yes, I will liberate you 
all. I know what my women will say : ' You may have as 
many wives as you please, Brigham.' (That is rather in- 
consistent with their scratching and fighting around him). 
* But I want to go somewhere, or do something, to get rid 
of these whiners."* The thing to be done, I would re- 
spectfully suggest, would be to give up his iniquitous system 
of polygamy. 

With this want of congeniality and harmony in the 
family of the Prophet,' who is considered so desirable as a 
husband, that a w ^n once, Jacob-like, served seven years 
as a domestic in Lo family, that she might at the end of her 
servitude become one of his wives, what must have been 
the state of domestic affairs in the* families of those less 
highly favored ? 

The offer of Brigham, to those who are unacquainted 
with Mormon fanaticism, and their surroundings, and cir- 
cumstances in life, might appear as a very liberal one to the 
disconterfted. But it was really a taunt, as unkind as their 
escape, if they desired it, was impracticable. While they 

* Deseret News, Oct. ist, 1856. 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. , 4; 

whined, and scratched, and fought, they still regarded their 
sufferings as necessary. They were "enduring the afflic- 
tions of this world.'' But suppose they desired to avail 
themselves of the offer? They must leave behind their 
children, which to all mothers would be a sore trial. And 
how would they " go their way," and whither would they 
go ? There was a population of Mormons only in the terri- 
tory, and they would not assist them. There were no 
United States troops as now. It was more than a thousand 
miles to civilization, and they had no means to obtain tran- 
sportation, for they were penniless. There was a tali 
range of mountains, almost impassable in the winter, which 
would have prevented a journey in private conveyances or 
on foot, but their destitute condition would have made such 
a journey as impracticable as any other. But supposing the 
possibility of overcoming these obstacles, what awaited 
them in a Christian community ? They had degraded them- 
selves, unwittingly it is true, but still degraded in the light 
of Christianity, or even civilization. Some provision wjuld 
have been made for such, of course, but they would naturally 
shrink from the encounter. 

Then, if they had accepted the offer with the hope of re- 
maining in the valley, how would they have been treated ? 
It is doubtful if they would be allowed to remain at all, for 
they were told to " go," and their influence would have been 
bad on others if they remained; and the fanaticisim of the 
people would have been so increased that thay would have 
been regarded as outcasts, most debased, in the eyes of 
their persecutors. 

The sermon had its desired effect to some extent I have 
no doubt, not because of its liberality, but, on the contrary, 
by more deeply crushing the spirits of the unhappy women. 
They had declined the alternative, then they must " round 
up their shoulders" and "endure the afflictions," be they 
increased as they might. Brigham Young's seeming cle- 
mency was but another politic act of despotism. 

After what I have written about marriage relation — how 
it is entered into and how regarded — it will not be surprising 



148 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

to any one to learn that divorces are numerous. They are 
granted by the President for very trival causes. Sometimes 
upon mutual agreement; oftener upon the application of the 
interested, who may have been aggrieved, or imagined they 
have. When the application proceeds from a woman it 
may be set down as a rule that it is from good cause. I 
was rather surprised to learn that the wishes of a woman 
would be considered at all ; but if she has evidence to pre- 
sent of neglect of her husband, or of his unkind treatment 
of her, and there is a probability of her marrying again, the 
divorce will almost certainly be forthcoming. This is more 
particularly the case with the poorer classes. With the 
more influential the wishes of the husband would receive 
very grave consideration. From what I have alreadv said 
about women being taught that marriage is so essential to 
their future glory, it might be supposed that their belief in 
this respect would prevent them from applying for divorce, 
but such an application is by no means evidence of scepti- 
cism. The woman knows too well what a marketable 
commodity she is, and almost any of them would be willing 
to risk the chances of getting other men to introduce them 
into heaven if they desired a change of the relations of this 
life. There is not the slightest objection to a divorced 
woman marrying again ; she is supposed to hold the same 
relation to society as if her husband were dead; and, indeed, 
she is " counselled" to- take another. The laws of marriage 
and divorce are so lightly considered that a Bishop not long 
since, when addressing his sisters in a ward meeting, re- 
marked : " If your husband doesn't suit you put him away 
and take another," and repeated the changes until he had 
provided the seventh husband, if so many trials should be 
necessary before a suitable one was found. I suppose his 
advice to the other sex would be " if your first wife doesn't 
suit you, take another, and if she should not, another and 
another ad infinitum, omiting the c put her away.' " That is, 
he must keep them all. 

Mr. Hyde says he knew a woman in Salt Lake City who 
had been married six times (she was then orfe short of the 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 149 

Bishop's limit), and that four of her previous husbands were 
then living in the city. Ten years have passed since Mr. 
Hyde wrote, and she may have still further multiplied her 
divorces at this date. 

Frequent application for divorce, for the most trivial im- 
aginary causes had so annoyed the President that he deter- 
mined upon a plan to diminish the number, and at the same 
time add to the receipts of his office. Of this Mr. Hyde 
speaks as follows : — 

" So common did the applications for divorce become, 
that in 1854, Brigham had to impose a price to be paid in 
cash {then very scarce) upon all bills. He charged ten dollars 
if married for time, and fifty dollars if sealed for eternity. 
The money went mostly to the clerk. Not a few amusing 
scenes occurred where parties who came for divorces had 
to return and live together because they could not raise 
monev enough between them to pay for the c bill.' It had 
the desired effect ; it decreased the applications." 

When a Mormon woman marries a Gentile, and be- 
comes dissatisfied with her new lord, even though she has 
violated the law of the church, and may have been cut off* 
from fellowship with the Saints, a divorce is readily ob- 
tained upon the slightest pretext. I know of two instances 
of this kind where divorces were granted for desertion of 
the husbands, when they were only temporarily absent, and 
one of them for a few days, at Fort Bridger. The hus- 
bands suspected nothing when they left, and returned rather 
surprised to find their former spouses joined to others. One 
of the husbands was an upright, intelligent and very worthy 
young man, who had been married but a short time. From 
what I learned of the character of the woman, he might 
congratulate himself in getting rid of her as he did. 

As a result of their " peculiar institution," I believe that 
adultery is more common among the Mormons than any 
class of people in the country, since the suppression of free- 
love societies. This may be regarded as a very bold decla- 
ration in the face of their assumed unexampled virtue. 
Public prostitution, does not exist in the territory, and to 



i 5 o PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

this the Mormon points so triumphantly as evidence of 
virtue. But if they are a virtuous people, even admitting 
those living in polygamy to be, it must be from some differ- 
ently understood meaning of the word from that as usually 
conceded when referring to the relations between the sexes. 
How they reconcile their acts with their teaching, that adul- 
tery is a mortal sin that can be atoned for only by the shed- 
ding of blood, is a mystery which I can solve only upon 
the supposition that sin is not imputed to them as sin. I 
have information, from what I consider very reliable author- 
ity, of the practice of adultery by men well known in the 
church, both at home and abroad, when on missions preach- 
ing Mormonism. For children to be born in the household 
of an absent brother who may have been years away on a 
mission is considered a fortunate circumstance for the absent 
one, as his kingdom in the eternal world is thus increased- 
I am told that such is of frequent occurrence among the 
more vulgar and honest. What all Christianity would re- 
gard as sinful and criminal, I must infer is considered a 
Christian duty by the saints ! 

Polygamy in Salt Lake City, has extended its baneful in- 
fluences throughout the adjacent country, outside the pale 
of the church. I have never visited a locality where 
women so little regard virtue, and men are so devoid of a 
sense of honor in their relations to the other sex, as in 
Utah. This is frequently spoken of by the Mormons, who 
make invidious comparisons between their people and Gen- 
tiles in this respect — referring to the outer life of the two 
classes. They fail to see all this immorality as th£ fruits 
of their iniquitous system. 

Large numbers of soldiers, and others, thrown into this 
country during the last four years, and cut off from the re- 
straining influences of home associations, are here exposed 
to the corrupt ones every where existing, and are morally 

ruined. 

While I admit the absence of public prostitution in Salt 
Lake City, I must assert its existence, in another form > 
among women whose ideas of morality and virtue have 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 151 

been so completely perverted, that they willingly embrace 
opportunities of becoming mistresses of Gentiles. Whether 
these are of a class who, in all honesty, once accepted the com- 
mon infatuation, and have had their eyes open to see their 
real condition as others see it, and are willing to accept any 
degradation, rather than remain where they were ; or 
whether they are women fallen as other women have, I am 
unable to say. In either case there is no doubt of the state 
of society among the Mormons leading to their ruin. 

When the California and Nevada volunteers returned 
home, at the close of the war, numbers of Mormon women 
accompanied the soldiers. Some of them were married by 
Judges of the United States Courts, and both husbands and 
wives acted in good faith, and may make honorable mem- 
bers of society ; others were married by adjutants of regi- 
ments, and the ceremony, altogether illegal, only intended as 
a farce ; while others went off together without desiring to 
be considered husband and wife, bold and shameless in their 
adultery. 

Polygamy has probably reached its critical stage among 
the Mormons of Utah. The multiplication of wives is not 
going on as before. The Act of Congress making it crim- 
inal has, probably, to some extent, prevented an increase of 
the evil, while it has not remedied it. That it has changed 
the opinions of the people as to their right to be polygamists 
as long as it is sanctioned by the church, I do not believe, 
though they may not consider it as expedient to be. It has 
probably aroused a little healthful fear. General Babcock 
in his report of an inspection tour through Utah, last sum- 
mer, mentions that he learned from Judge Titus, the Chief 
Justice of the territory, that since the passage of the Act of 
Congress prohibiting polygamy, some of the Mormons have 
already put away their unlawful wives, and others declined 
to become polygamists. Such cases, however, I am inclin- 
ed to think are very uncommon. Whether from a declin- 
ing popularity, and threatening failure of this darling doctrine 
of the leaders, or not, I am unable to say, but polygamy is 
more strongly advocated now than ever before, and though 



i 5 2 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

some may be putting away their unlawful wives, and others 
refuse to become polygamists, it is as popular in high places 
as ever. Only a few days before the date of this writing a 
considerable excitement arose in Zion because a young 
daughter of the editor of The Telegraph, sixteen years old, was 
married as the fourth wife of a son of the president, while 
the principal merchant of the city had previously applied to 
her father for her as his fourth wife, and was refused. 

Brigham Young would make it appear that he is more 
strongly impressed as to the propriety of polygamy than 
he ever was before. At the last semi-annual conference 
when a large congregation of people from the rural districts 
was assembled he made this a special subject. These peo- 
ple know but little of how polygamy is regarded out of Utah, 
and are a class who regard their prophet as next in wisdom 
to the Omniscient, hence his desire to impress strongly 
upon them, their duties and privileges in this respect. On 
the occasion referred to, he addressed them as follows : 

"The last time I was in the City of Lowell there were 
fourteen thousand more females than males in that one city. 
This was many years ago. They live and die in a single 
state, and are' forgotten. Have they filled the measures of 
their creation, and accomplished the design of heaven in 
bringing them upon the earth ? No, they have not. Two 
thousand good, God-fearing men should go there, and take 
to themselves seven wives apiece. It is written in the Bible, 
*and in that day, seven women shall lay hold of one man, 
saying, we will eat our bread and wear our own apparel ; 
only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. ' 
The government of the United States does not intend that 
that prophecy shall be fulfilled, and the Lord Almighty 
means that it shall. 

" Do you not think that the Lord will conquer ? I think 
He will, and we are helping Him. It is the decree of the 
Almighty that in the last days seven women shall take hold 
of one man, etc., to be counseled and advised by him, being 
willing to spin their own clothing, and do everything they 
canto earn their own living, if they can only bear his name 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 153 

to take away their reproach. What is this order for ? It is 
for the resurrection ; it is not for this world. I would not 
go across this Bowery for polygamy, if it only pertained to 
this world. It is for the resurrection; and the Spirit of the 
Lord has come upon the people, and upon the ladies es- 
pecially, and prepares the way for the fulfillment of His 
Word. The female sex have been deceived so long, and 
been troddeen under foot of man so long, that a spirit 
has come upon them, and they want a place, and a 
name, and a head ; for the man is the head of the woman, 
to lead her into the celestial kingdom of our Father and 

God."* 

During the past winter the Salt Lake Telegraph has 
abounded with editorials in defence of polygamy as never 
before. It would make it appear as vital to their religion as 
the doctrine of the atonement, or of the resurrection. For 
days in succession long double-leaded editorial articles on 
this subject have been published. The following has been 
given as examples : It was the daughter of this writer who 
the other day was married into the Young family : 

" * * However, as to the question, cannot our citizens 
renounce polygamy ? It is just the same sort of question as 
might have been put to Gallileo, would he not renounce the 
theory about the earth turning round the sun ? Or the an- 
cient Apostles, could they not renounce their doctrine con- 
cerning the Redeemer, lowly born, crucified and risen ? Or 
any other apostle of religious, scientific or other class of 
truths, could they not renounce their favorite theories ? 
Could' not Franklin renounce his electricity theories, or Watt 

his steam theories ? 

********* 

" Polygamy is not dependent on the Mormons, nor are 
they upon it/ It is not responsible for them nor they for it. 
The system of plural marriage is a Divine institution, a true 
and life-giving system, made known from the heavens, and 
practised by the people of God, as well as those who know 

* Deseret News, October, 1866. 

8 



i 5 4 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

nothing of Him, for thousands upon thousands of years. 
Faith in the principle and the practice of it when and where 
necessary, are just as incumbent on the people as faith in 
and the practice of any other divine truth. The rejection 
of one truth is sin, just as much as the rejection of another. 

"So far as the people of this territory are concerned, 
they believe and practice polygamy not because any other 
people did or do, or did not or do not the same thing, but 
because it is a part of the law of God to them. If the 
great Jehovah were to make known to them that He wished 
them to discontinue the practice of polygamy, those of our 
citizens who are now foremost in the observance of this 
doctrine would, with corresponding alacrity and faithfulness, 
cease to observe it, but until such shall be the case, they 
cannot relinquish the doctrine and remain acceptable before 
God. 

" Let us ask our friends how they would regard our peo- 
ple, if they, convinced that polygamy were a part of the law 
of God incumbent on them, were to weekly renounce it 
through fear of the threatenings of puny man, and most all 
of such specimens of the race as many politicians are ? 
What account of their stewardships could our people render 
to their Father in Heaven, if they were to abandon His truths 
at every breath of powerful or popular disfavor ? They 
would be unworthy of the regard or esteem of either God or 
man. Better, far better, for them to abide in God's truths 
and risk the consequences. By so doing they will win 
and retain the favor of heaven, and the fellowship of the 
illustrious and worthy of our race in all ages, and having the 
blessings secure, they can afford to risk the bad will and 
vaporous threatenings of the rest of mankind." 

Let me caution my Massachusetts friends before they 
read the following not to get up a female emigration society 
to Utah, after they learn the advantages of polygamy to 
women as taught by the Mormons, for it might not prove 
a more successful one than the famous Washington Terri- 
tory enterprise : 

"Are the wives of polygamists injured ? Wherein are they 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 



,'55 



hurt? Have they not the same privilege of being respected 
as honorable wives and mothers as any other women have? 
It is their own free will and choice to become wives of 
polygamists, and why should they complain of having their 
own way? For our part we think polygamy is a mighty 
fine thing for the women, and we will tell you why. In 
the first place it insures every woman a husband, which 
monogamy does not; in the second place it gives them the 
privilege of getting a good husband, which monogamy 
frequently does not, the latter system granting to many only 
Hobson's choice ; in the third place, it gives a woman the 
privilege of having the man whom she would prefer of all 
others, if she can persuade him, and monogamy often pre- 
vents such a desirable consummation. How, therefore, the 
women who are married to polygamists can be injured by 
it we cannot conceive."* 

In addition to the influence of the pulpit and press, the 
Legistature of the Territory, in its official capacity, comes 
to the relief of polygamy. On the 13th of January they 
adopted a memorial to Congress, setting forth in a long pre- 
amble the wrongs that have been done the people of Utah 
by the act of Congress of 1862 prohibiting polygamy, and 
claiming its repeal on the ground of its unconstitutionality, 
etc. No one knows better than Brigham Young the utter 
uselessness of such a memorial. But all such acts have 
their effects upon this fanatical people, f The result of this 
petition in the House of Representatives was the adoption 
of a report declaring polygamy to be a relic of heathenism 
and barbarism, and but prostitution by another name, and 
making it obligatory upon officers of the Government to 
rigidly enforce existing laws on the subject. 

Place these remarks alongside of such passages as I have 
quoted in a previous letter, and compare their teachings of 
to-day on the subject of marriage with the teachings of 1850, 
and can a sect so inconsistent, if there were not other things 

—1 ■ — ■■' ■ .—. i ■ — 1 . . - ..i ■ M ■-■■■■■ 1 1 ■■ ■ !■ 

* Salt Lake Telegraph, Jan. 29, 1867. 
f Ibid. Jan. 31, 1867. 



156 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

pointing to its end, be expected long to exist. This effort 
of the pulpit, press and legislature to bolster up the church 
may be a dernier resort when they see ruin impending. 
Those specially urgent in the maintenance of the " institu- 
tion" have their "entangling alliances" therewith, and it 
is but natural that they should act as they do. The cloud 
they see rising in the church has already reached dimensions 
larger than a man's hand, and will rise as certainly as did 
Elijah's, and soon be pouring out in this case its destructive 
element. 

Intestine trouble is likely to arise from incredulity as to 
the correctness of doctrine and practice ; and if skepticism 
should spread as to the truth of the doctrines of polygamy, 
it would not only endanger the standing of Brigham and his 
polygamists, but seal for ever the fate of the sect. A rigid 
enforcement of law would only increase the fanaticism of 
the people, which they would construe to be persecution for 
religious opinions, and would bind them the more strongly 
together; but a growing unbelief in and abandonment of 
polygamy, without it being renounced by authority, would 
knock out the- keystone of the arch, and the whole super- 
structure of Mormonism would fall. 

Polygamy is not so general in Utah as many suppose. 
There are probably more polygamists in Salt Lake City and 
the Bishops of the settlements than in the whole of the 
territory besides. The number of women, probably, very 
slightly exceeds the number of men in Utah. In i860, 
there were 20,178 men and 19,947 women, but the pro- 
portion has been increased in favor of the women since that 
time. The very large majority of these are wives of mono- 
gamists ; and when we consider the number in the harems 
of the prominent in Salt Lake City and other large settle- 
ments, it leaves not very many who can be polygamists, 
even supposing there is a preponderance in favor of the men 
among the unmarried. 

Having so many in the church who are not restrained in 
their religious views by selfish considerations, and with a 
schism already, and with all the Christian world discoun- 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 157 

tenancing polygamy, is there not clanger ? I think Brigham 
Young and his satellites fully realize it. The Gentile 
population is increasing both in the city, and elsewhere, not- 
withstanding Brigham's efforts to prevent it, by refusing to 
sell or rent property to such, and by discouraging all busi- 
ness patronage of them. The railroad is approaching Zion 
from both the Atlantic and Pacific. When completed, a 
flood of Gentiles will be poured into, and through the terri- 
tory, mingling more or less with the masses of the people. 

The Mormons dare not institute polygamy, until far away 
from civilization, though they claimed to have had divine 
authority long before. An evil, then, which would not be 
tolerated in the States, before the existence of a law forbid- 
ding it, because of the abhorrence with which it would have 
been regarded by the people, (though it existed clandestinely) 
cannot much longer be tolerated within the jurisdiction of 
the government, and its statute-books disgraced by a law, 
when no effort is made to enforce it, though violated every- 
day. That some active measures must be adopted speedily, 
is evident, unless the Prophet has a revelation for himself 
and people to shake the dust of this wicked country from 
their feet, and tread upon its soil no more for ever. This 
would be a most happy solution of the difficulty attending 
an abolition of the practice of polygamy. Now the law is 
not only violated, but publicly ridiculed by the highest 
authority of the church. Brigham has frequently remarked 

in the Tabernacle that he " wouldn't give a d -n for a 

woman who wasn't worth more to a man than five hundred 
dollars " — the penalty for the first violation of the law. I 
might here explain that Brigham represents that all his 
swearing is done in the pulpit. The Prophet has himself 
violated the law at least once by marrying Amelia. 

The following account of an interview between Mr. Col- 
fax and his associates and Brigham Young, is evidence that 
the Prophet's mind is not altogether at ease on this sub- 
ject :— 

" In the course of the discussion, Mr. Young asked, 
* suppose polygamy is given up, will not your government 



158 PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. 

then demand more — will it not war upon the Book of Mor- 
mon, and attack our church organization ?' The reply was 
emphatically ' No, ' that it had no right, and could have 
no justification to do so, and that we had no idea that there 
would be any disposition in that direction. 

" The talk which was said to be the freest and frankest 
ever known on that subject, in that presence, ended pleas- 
antly, but with the full expression on the part of Mr. 
Colfax and his friends that the polygamy question might 
be removed from existence, and thus all objection to the 
admission of Utah as a State taken away ; but that 
until it was, no such admission was possible, and that 
the government could not continue to look indifferently 
upon the enlargement of so offensive a practice. And 
not only what Mr. Young said, but his whole manner, 
left us the impression that if public opinion and the 
government united vigorously, but at the same time dis- 
creetly, to press the question, there would be found some 
way to acquiesce in the demand, and change the practice of 
the present fathers of the church."* 

Such admissions, under such circumstances, are significant, 
but they would not be made publicly, for the people's faith 
would be shaken. The President would talk so before them. 
But Brigham Young is a profound diplomatist, in his way, 
and with the example of Joseph Smith, and others, who 
publicly denounced polygamy, while they were privately 
practising it, what would there be to surprise the public in 
Brigham's course should a way yet be found to discontinue 
it, in the face of what is now transpiring. The Mormons 
are a people of contradictions and inconsistencies. 

I have dwelt thus freely upon the peculiar institution of 
Mormor.ism, because it is the only thing connected with the 
church that is of special interest to the public, either because 
of its vice or virtue, and if the government institute hostile 
measures against the Mormons it will be solely for this 
cause, and to rid the country of so foul a blot on her his- 

* Across the Continent. Bowles. Page 112. 



PRACTICAL POLYGAMY, &c. 159 

tory. How we may peaceably remove this disgrace I will 
make the subject of some concluding remarks in another 
chapter. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



WHERE THE MORMONS COME FROM, AND HOW THEY 

REACH SALT LAKE. 

In almost every country where the Protestant churches 
of Great Britain and the United States have their 
missionaries, there may also be found the preachers of 
Mormonism sent out from the Valley of the Great Salt 
Lake. 

The earnestness and enthusiasm of this infatuated people 
in their missionary labor, when viewed in the abstract, 
must command universal admiration. That their sect 
should increase in numbers from year to year under their 
missionary system among the classes that compose the 
proselytes is not surprising ; nor is it surprising that the cor- 
rupt church holds within her walls so many of her converts 
when we consider all the circumstances in the case : the 
class of people ; their delusion, and how they are isolated 
in Utah with all avenues to their enlightenment closed. 

Nineteen-twentieths of the additions to the Mormons 
that take place from year to year, are from the most degrad- 
ed of the peasantry of Europe, while Great Britain pro- 
bably furnishes three times as many as all of the rest of the 
world (including our country) combined. The following 
statement of the emigration to Utah for several years, is 
obtained from the work of Captain Burton on the Mormons. 
This writer possessed remarkable facilities for obtaining cor- 



160 WHERE THE MORMONS 

rect information from their records. For weeks he was a 
constant visitor at the historian's office in Salt Lake City ; 
besides having the confidence of their prominent men, he 
through them learned much of their history, which he has 
given to the public in his elaborate work the "City of the 
Saints," carefully avoiding, however, all unfavorable allusion 
that it was possible to avoid. About emigration he says : — 

" I now proceed to figures, which can easily be verified 
by reference to Liverpool. From 1840 to 1854 they reck- 
oned seventeen thousand one hundred and ninety-five souls, 
and from 1854 to 1855, four thousand seven hundred and 
sixteen souls, the total in fifteen years (i840-'55) being 
twenty-one thousand nine hundred and eleven. From 1855 
to 1856 they number four thousand three hundred and 
ninety-five souls, and from the 1st of July 1857 to 3 0tn °f 
June i860, they count two thousand four hundred and 
thirty-three, making for the five subsequent years (i855~'6o) 
a total of six thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight. 
Thus in twenty years between i840-'6o they show a grand 
total of twenty-eight thousand seven hundred and thirty- 
nine immigrants." 

I have already said that three-fourths of this immigration 
was from Great Britain, and give as an example the nation- 
alities of the people that arrived between the years i857«'6o 
as recorded by the same writer : — "From the United King- 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland — English, one thousand 
and seventy-four ; Scotch one hundred and twenty-six ; 
Welsh one hundred and seventy-three; Irish twelve. The 
total number from the Scandinavian missions is seven hund- 
red and sixty-two, of which there are five hundred and 
twenty-eight Danes, one hundred and ninety-three Swedes, 
and forty-one Norwegians. The total number from the 
Swiss and Italian missions is two hundred and eleven, of 
which two hundred and nine are from the Swiss Cantons, 
and two from Italy. There are also two French, and three 
Germans, and seventy Elders returning home from missions, 
making a grand total of two thousand four hundred and 
thirty-three." Since i860 other missions have been estab- 
lished in addition to those reported above. 



COME FROM. 161 

I will now endeavor to explain the workings of their 
missionary and emigration systems, which add so many 
to the population of Utah every year. Proselyting and 
emigration go together. When an individual accepts their 
religious creed, and joins the church, he is taught that it is 
his duty, and will greatly conduce to his happiness to emi- 
grate immediately to Zion in America. 

At the April session of the semi-annual conferences, in 
Salt Lake City, the elective officers of the church are elected, 
and the appointments of others announced. Among the 
latter are the appointments to missions. A man must have 
been ordained an Elder, before he is eligible to the office of 
a missionary, and the more important missions are supplied 
by persons ranking high among the clergy. The English 
mission is considered the most desirable, and is usually filled 
by one of the Twelve. The head of the mission is called 
the president. The president has two counsellors, also of 
high grade. He might be said to control all foreign mis- 
sions, as his duties pertain to other works, as well as that 
over which he more immediately presides. 

For labor among the people Elders are sent out, subject 
to the orders of the president, and are responsible to him for 
the manner in which they discharge their duties. They 
usually go in pairs j but larger numbers are sent to the more 
important missions, and the largest to the English, as might 
be inferred from the statistics of emigration. 

All missionary appointments are made by the president 
of the church, and announced at the conclusion of the con- 
ference, just as are the appointments of ministers to their 
stations, by the annual conferences of the Methodist church. 
Usually it is understood beforehand, who are to go on mis- 
sions ; but it sometimes happens that an announcement, 
for instance, of an Elder being ordered to India, falls like a 
thunderbolt upon some unsuspecting saint. The English 
mission is one sought after by influential men, being regard- 
ed as a profitable one, pecuniarily ; while the more unde- 
sirable ones are shunned, and regarded as punishments. A 
few years ago, Mr. Jennings, the prince of Mormon mer- 



* 



8 



i6i WHERE THE MORMONS 

chants, was given one of these " punishments." Of course 
it would have been a great sacrifice for him to have left his 
business, so the matter was compromised with the president, 
and Mr. Jennings allowed to procure a substitute. I do not 
know the pecuniary consideration received either by the presi- 
dent or the substitute. The presidency of the English mission 
is supported out of the tithing paid in that country ; but those 
who are sent out to preach receive no remuneration from the 
church, and are supposed to fall back upon the old apostolic 
plan, and go forth without purse or scrip. Going without purse 
or scrip practically refers only to the purse ofthe church. Mis- 
sionaries are allowed to use their own funds to any extent they 
desire; but to do so is unnecessary. When one is about 
to start the people of his ward, or settlement, ascertain his 
wants, and supply them in kind. That is if his wardrobe is 
scant, it is replenished ; if his shoes are poor, others are fur- 
nished ; and his larder is supplied for a journey to the next 
locality, where it wil be renewed. The more liberal of the 
Saints also furnish to the more popular of their missionaries 
ready cash ; but this is unusual. Cash itself is exceedingly 
uncommon among the people. 

In England, when an Elder arrives on a mission he is 
dealt with most liberally. The first act of the resident Mor- 
mon is to take him to a clothier, and substitute a suit of 
ministerial black for the variegated homespun in which he is 
clad. The outer man is quite renewed, and a missionary 
two days after his arrival in Liverpool, would not be recog- 
nized as the same individual who had landed a few days before. 
Their houses are then thrown open, and he fares very 
much as did Methodist preachers when taken into a family 
during the session of a conference twenty years ago ; the 
fatted calf is killed, and everything possible done to increase 
the creature comforts. If he should be a polygamist, he is 
even more enthusiastically received, and more sumptuously 
entertained, being regarded by the vulgar as belonging to a 
higher order of beings than monogamic brothers. How 
different from the public feeling toward such in 1850 when 
Parley Pratt had to lie to the people to satisfy them ! In 



COME FROM. 163 

England, however, the Mormons know nothing more about 
the practical workings of polygamy than do the nuns in 
France. 

Latterly the president of the English session has been al- 
lowed to take one wife with him ; but this was not permit- 
ted until recently. The former prohibition resulted in con- 
duct disgraceful to some who were sent as well as to the 
church that sent them. I must mention a rather romantic 
incident connected with the life of a president who flourish- 
ed in Liverpool not a hundred years ago. While he had 
two wives in Salt Lake City, he became attracted by a 
young lady in the city where he was residing, and the inti- 
macy resulted in their marriage. How he evaded the law 
of the church which requires that plural marriages shall take 
place only before Brigham Young I do not know ; but he 
was married nevertheless. He may have been married over 
again when he returned to Zion, and perhaps reproved for 
having kept a mistress, for such she must have been consid- 
ered by the church if he was not married according to its laws. 
Not long after the celebration of the nuptials, wife number 
one or number two turned up in Liverpool, when the presi- 
dent found himself in a strait, with two wives, where he 
would certainly be punished if it were known to the author- 
ities. The young lady was publicly introduced as his wife, 
while the American wife was not known to be one. And 
as the husband had followed the example of Abraham in not 
remaining true to the wife of his youth, so he followed his 
example farther, and when in difficulty represented that his 
Sarah was his sister. In this the man was accidentally con- 
sistent. But as he holds up Abraham as an example, being a 
polygamist, he should also hold him up as an example being 
a prevaricator, and if his course justified the one practice, 
it should also the other, then polygamy and lying ought to 
be taught together. The president lived several months 
with his two wives, his first continuing to pass as bis sister. 

The presidents generally are held in high esteem by the 
resident Mormons, but such is not always the case, as may 
be seen from the following extract of a letter before me. 



1 64 WHERE THE MORMONS 

It would not be proper for me to give the name of the writer ; 
but I would state that the person had observed all that is 
referred to in the letter. After alluding to other matters it 
refers to a certain-president, whose name is given, in this wise : 

" This man was a tyrant among the people, and few re- 
spected him. He would not show himself to preach to the 
people except on fast days once a month ; and then he would 
scold them and tell them that they were extravagant ; that 
they lived too well ; that they did not pay enough to the 
Lord ; and during one month seventeen old members, who 
had been in the church ever since its organization in Europe, 
were c cut off*' '(women would never have been dealt with 
thus harshly — they are too valuable in the church and the 
unfortunates must have been men). The reason people did 
not like him was because he spent so much money on his 
" little doll" (the wife he had with him. Saints in Salt Lake 
do not have " dolls " — their wives as a rule are treated as 
anything else). . " He made it a practice to go to the theatre 
and take his wife's family, and that cost him one pound 
every night he went, and // was the tithing that paid it. He 
was just the man to extort money from the poor, and c cut 
them off' if they did not pay their tithing; and a man or 
woman rather than lose their position in the church would 
pay their last cent. 

" I know of cases where women have had to take 
their husbands' clothes' to the pawnbrokers, in order to have 
the money ready for their teacher. Shoes have been taken 
from little children's feet to pay the fee. It is a common 
thing for a poor sister to go out and earn a shilling, and 
when she goes home find an Elder from Utah at her house, 
and she will very cheerfully put her hard-earned shilling in 
his hand, and believe that the Lord has blessed her for it, 
and I have known cases where the men have gone into a 
liquor-store and spent it." Such testimony is rather damag- 
ing to the character of Mormons when they go abroad. 

Formerly the headquarters of Mormonism was in Liver- 
pool, but within a few years they have been changed to Lon- 
don, and there the Elders report on their arrival out, and are 



COME FROM. 165 

sent thence to different parts of the kingdom. The manu- 
facturing towns, where there are large numbers of operatives, 
and other localities where the ignorant and poor are collect- 
ed, are their principal fields of operations. Their meetings 
are held in public halls, hired for the purpose, and large 
numbers are attracted by curiosity, and the more credulous 
among them are easily deceived by the sophistry and mis- 
representations of the preachers, and unite with the church. 
Sometimes their meetings are held out doors, in market- 
places, and elsewhere, but such gatherings are often dis- 
persed by the police. Another means of reaching the peo- 
ple is by meetings in the houses of those who have embrac- 
ed the faith, and are zealous to extend the new gospel among 
their friends ; accordingly they are collected together, and 
the teacher invited to preach. No insignificant proportion 
of Mormon converts have been made in this way. 

A more successful way of proselyting than by preaching 
the ridiculous tenets of their theology, is in the extravagant 
praise of the Mormon's Zion, in the Great Salt Lake valley. 
The temporal advantages to be derived from a residence 
there are represented to be incalculable ; and then to be 
comparatively shut in with God's people, away from the 
unbelieving and wicked Gentiles, is another desirable con- 
sideration. Some of the Elders teach that a home will 
spring up as if by magic, and that the fields will yield their 
fruit almost without cultivation. Others whose assurance 
is not so great, dwell more upon the spiritual benefits of a 
residence in Zion, but all are agreed in overrating the natural 
advantages of the locality. It is portrayed as equal in all 
respects to the Canaan which the Jews so long sought while 
journeying in the wilderness. 

In addition to these tangible advantages, held out to a poor, 
ignorant, and often oppressed people, is the wonderful in- 
fluence exerted by the impression created of a real interest 
in their spiritual welfare on the part of the missionary. 
They never before realized that a minister's concern for 
them individually, extended further than to see that they 
attended service occasionally, and paid regularly their church 



166 WHERE THE MORMONS 

fees. They regard it as Christ-like for a man to subject 
himself to so many trials, without pay, and without honor, for 
their soul's benefit, and while they see nothing attractive in 
his religion, they see so much to admire in the man that 
they are willing to accept his teachings, and become the sub- 
jects of the salvation he preaches to them. Occasionally 
educated persons, who have been unfortunate in life, see in 
such conduct such a contrast with the characters of those 
surrounding them, that they too are led into the delusion. 

As soon as the assent of an individual is obtained to the 
doctrinal teachings of an Elder, he then endeavors to im- 
press upon the mind of the convert the importance of aid- 
ing in building up God's physical kingdom on earth, and as 
the advantages represented as belonging to that kingdom 
have probably led the individual to embrace Mormonism, he 
is only too willing to contribute his part by becoming at the 
earliest possible day a resident of Zion. But to migrate 
thither costs money, and those most anxous to go are least 
capable of meeting the expenses of the journey. For the 
church to pay these expenses would require a large outlay, 
and it provides a way for people to pay for themselves ; 
so when their Christian privileges are preached to them, their 
Christian duty to enable them to enjoy these privileges is as 
strongly urged. This consists in raising the necessary emi- 
gration money. Nine pounds is the amount charged for 
the entire journey, and any portion of this, from a penny a 
week upward, may be deposited at the Emigration Office, 
until the required amount is raised. The individual is then 
sent over in the next emigrant vessel the church charters, 
after the sum has been deposited. The enthusiastic young 
convert will deny himself or herself (oftener herself) the or- 
dinary comforts of life, to be able to pay their emigration 
fees. 

There is, however, an emigration fund, raised by contri- 
bution, for the benefit of those unable to save the required 
amount. This is expended at the discretion of the presi- 
dent of the mission. He says who shall, and who shall not 
have the benefit of the fund. Young girls may without 



COME FROM. 167 

difficulty secure their passage without prepayment ; but an 
educated man, with a family, may be unable to procure any 
of the benefits of the emigration fund if his services are 
useful in England. Nor indeed are such always allowed 
to go, when they can raise the funds, but are told they must 
be further " tried " before going up to Zion. 

The separation of families for shipment to this country is 
one of the great evils of the emigration system. As an ex- 
ample I would mention an instance when Apostle Cannon 
was in charge of the mission, only three or four years ago. He 
allowed fourteen young girls, from twelve to fifteen years of 
age, to be taken from their parents and friends, and without 
a protector to embark on an emigrant vessel, and then jour- 
ney almost across the continent to Salt Lake valley. Not 
long after their arrival a lady met one of these girls she knew 
in England, and inquired where her mother lived, suppos- 
ing, of course, she was in the territory, and was quite sur- 
prised to learn of the circumstance I have mentioned. This 
girl then described the journey and remarked that soon after 
sailing she sprained her ankle, when she " felt the need of 
mother, but oh !" said she, " how much more did I need 
her when crossing the plains," and then related the shame- 
ful insults to which she had been subjected which the mod- 
esty of the lady would not allow her to repeat to me. What 
eternal disgrace should cling to the character of the man 
who would willingly risk and expose the virtue of helpless 
girls in this way ! 

To populate Utah with women as fast as possible, is one 
great end of emigration, and it is now " counselled" that 
poor men who are unable to raise the price for the emigra- 
tion of their whole families, should send their wives and 
daughters first, and go afterward themselves, when they 
could collect sufficient means. This is reversing the order 
of things formerly practiced, when the husband and father 
went first to provide a home. 

In former years the emigrants all collected at Liverpool, 
even from other parts of Europe ; but now the ships receive 
their loads from ports most convenient to the localities where 
the emigrants reside.^ 



168 WHERE THE MORMONS 

The vessels chartered are the ordinary sailing emigrant 
ships, and the saints are provided precisely the same accom- 
modations that sinners find when sailing in these vessels in- 
dependent of Mormon Emigration Societies. Before sail- 
ing the passengers are furnished with simple rations for the 
voyage, and they then arrange themselves into messes, and 
each mess makes such provision for the voyage as their means 
and inclinations will permit. 

The president of the mission appoints a president of the 
ship, and two counsellors. This organization, it may have 
been noticed, runs through their system. The ship's presi- 
dent acts in much the same capacity that a colonel would 
with his regiment embarked. A clerk is also appointed, 
who is expected to note all that transpires on the voyage, 
recording carefully marriages, births, deaths, etc., and inci- 
dents of interest. 

A singular entry appeared in the journal of a clerk of one 
of the ships that came over in 1863. It was that the presi- 
dent had been drunk for three consecutive days and confin- 
ed for that time in the hold of the vessel. To prevent a 
repetition of the occurrence the u counsellors" deposed him 
from office, that he could not have access to the brandy that 
was sent out for the sick, and get drunk again. Upon the 
arrival in Salt Lake the facts were reported to President Young 
and the offender was suspended from the communion of the 
saints ; but not long thereafter Brigham relented, and rein- 
stated the man, remarking — "Oh ! he was only drunk — that 
was all." 

On shipboard they resort to various amusements. There 
are regular evenings for dancing, and singing is almost con- 
stantly heard in some part of the ship. The men smoke 
and swear. Some of the most profane men I ever heard 
were Mormons. The sisters often manifest a propensity to 
petty larceny in the way of appropriating the stockings, and 
other little articles of the wardrobe of those lying next to 
them, after turning in for the night. Religious services are 
held night and morning, and at the same time the roll is 
called to ascertain whether or not all are safe. 



COME FROM. 169 

A voyage of four or six weeks, under favorable circum- 
stances, lands them in New York City, when the saints 
find accommodations, like other immigrants, in Castle Gar- 
den, until arrangements are completed for their transporta- 
tion by rail to the Missouri River. About three days are 
required for this. 

At one time immigrants were landed at New Orleans, 
and went thence up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to 
some point where their trains met them for their overland 
journey. This route, however, has been abandoned entirely, 
as an unhealthy and expensive one, and not so expeditious. 

From New York the immigrants are hurried through the 
States in cars provided for that class of travellers, without 
any opportunities of observing the country or the people, 
and soon reach a point near Omaha, whence they com- 
mence their trip over the plains. Often they arrive in 
advance of the trains, which are liable to delays occasioned 
by the high water in streams at the season they start, and 
the exposed people suffer much from sickness. 

From their debarkation at New York, to their arrival in 
Salt Lake City, they are without medical attendance, and 
the sick die, or recover, as the unaided powers of nature 
may decide the case. The hardships to which they are 
subjected, combined with a want of cleanliness, loss of rest, 
improper diet, exposure, &c, often thwart the recuperative 
powers of nature, and many a Mormon lies buried on the 
plains, who with a little care and attention, might have 
been saved. The employment of a doctor, under any cir- 
cumstances, is regarded as an evidence of weakness of faith. 
The power of healing is supposed to be in the laying on 
of hands, which is the only means used. The large mor- 
tality in a healthy country, is evidence against their system 
as well as the conciusions of Oliver Wendell Holmes, who 
wrote that if all the medicine in the world were thrown into 
the sea it would be a good deal better for mankind and 
a good deal worse for the fishes. 

Every spring the owners of wagons and teams among 
the Mormons of Utah are required to furnish, accord- 



170 WHERE THE MORMONS 

ing to their ability, the means of transportation neces- 
sary for the immigrants. Each individual who furnishes 
any, keeps an account of the number of wagons or 
animals furnished, and if they are not returned in the fall, 
the owner is remunerated from the Emigration Fund ; but 
he is allowed nothing for the use of them. He is supposed 
to be loaning them to the Lord, and expects to receive ten- 
fold, in some other way, what their use may be worth. The 
drivers of these teams are selected with great care, and be- 
fore they are sent out are required to go through the endow- 
ment house, a secret institution of Mormonism, where by 
oaths, and ceremonies, the initiated are supposed to be made 
purer, and with drivers fresh from this solemn and holy (?) 
service the women are supposed to be safer. Upon the arri- 
val of the trains at the river all is life and activity among 
the immigrants in preparing for their long journey, and no 
little amusement is afforded by the sight of ox-teams, which 
is quite a novel thing to them. 

These wagons are only for the transportation of baggage 
and rations. The people are all required to walk the thou- 
sand mile journey without even suitable conveyance for those 
who are sick on the road — such can be accommodated only 
on the loaded wagons. They have no tents, nor any pro- 
tection from the storm. It is a sad sight to see the road 
lined with these people laboring to get along in a severe 
snow-storm, as I have seen them. Old and decrepid men 
and women, some with their wooden shoes, others without 
any, totter along in the rear of the slow-moving ox-trains; 
but slow as they move it is too fast for some of these who 
are borne down by the infirmities of age or disease. I have 
been informed that many such die on the road, and from 
what I have witnessed I cannot doubt the truth of the state- 
ment. Out of a party of nine hundred that crossed the 
plains in the summer of 1864, twenty-two died after leaving 
the Missouri River. One of this number was an old man 
who for some offence was ducked in a stream until he was 
drowned. This I learn from the lips of a witness of the 
rp-irder. Another of the casualties was the destruction of 



COME FROM 171 

a poor woman by wild beasts. From sickness and fatigue 
she was unable to keep up with the train, and was killed and 
devoured by wolves or other wild animals. 

Notwithstanding all their hardships and privations, mur- 
muring is not heard because it is not allowed. If a saint 
is reported for that offence, at the next meeting he is surely 
reprimanded for the first offence, and if he persists more 
severe punishment is inflicted. To counteract any tendency 
to complaint, and drive away the melancholy natural under 
such circumstances, frequent dances are indulged in, as well 
as other hilarity, to drown thought. Then in addition they 
are urged to a contented and hopeful state of mind, by fre- 
quent allusions, at their religious services, to that beautiful 
land flowing with milk and honey, which they are going up 
to possess. 

Great as are their hardships in crossing the plains at pres- 
ent, a system was tried several years ago that deserves no 
milder designation than one of barbarous cruelty. I refer 
to the hand-cart trains. Hand-carts were substituted for 
wagons, and two individuals, usually a man and woman, 
drew each, and this cart contained all their worldly goods. 
If from fatigue or accident they abandoned it, they abandon- 
ed every thing. A lady at Fort Bridger, who witnessed the 
passage of one of these trains through that post, informed 
me that it was one of the most sickening sights she ever be- 
held. Men and women had lashed themselves with cords 
to their carts like beasts, and without shoes their mangled 
and bleeding feet trod the rough ground, as they toiled over 
it with their load. One of the men was wheeling his wife, 
who had become exhausted from fatigue, in addition to his 
usual load. 

A friend who had opportunities of knowing whereof he 
wrote, thus refers to this hand-cart train : " He (referring 
to an apostle returning from a mission) came across the plains 
in a carriage, with three wagons loaded, and in one of them 
a piano, besides every thing needed for his journey. He 
passed the hand-cart train, and those who had furnished him 
the money, while in England, to buy what he was taking 



172 WHERE THE MORMONS &c. 

along, cried out to him to assist them ; but he was too big to 
stop to hear their distress. This train, which started late in 
the season, was overtaken by heavy snow-storms, in Novem- 
ber and December, and many died before they reached the 
valley. Brigham openly cursed the man responsible for this 
suffering, and he could not hold up his head for a long 
time. The people's curse still remains on him." 

In addition to those who lost their lives, there are now 
invalids in Salt Lake City who date back their shattered 
health to this unfortunate experiment. 

When the trains reach "Emigration Canon" the pass 
through the Wasach Mountains by which they reach the 
city, or at some other point convenient to the city, the 
agents of the Emigration Society visit the people to settle 
the accounts of those who have not paid their emigration 
fees in advance. The notes of such delinquents are then 
taken, and these are held in terrorem over them if at any time 
they think of leaving the territory. The society expects to 
be reimbursed for all its expenditures for emigration. 

This being settled they then proceed to the city and en- 
camp or bivouac in Emigration Square. Upon the arrival 
of the trains the inhabitants visit the square to find friends, 
servants or wives, as they may desire. Heber Kimball advises 
those in charge of the trains not to select all the pretty girls 
before they get in, but give all a chance. Very often, when 
the market for wives'is dull, fine-looking girls are hired as 
servants. Not having been such at their homes they may 
object at first, but after being " counselled " to go they gener- 
ally yield. Probably in a short time the employer takes a fan- 
cy to the maiden and tells her that he has discovered that he 
* c kinder likes her," and is willing to exalt her to a wife in 
this world and glory in the next. This proposition may be 
as distasteful as the first was, and she is again "counselled " 
and again yields. Such is common experience of immi- 
grants. 

After the party has been well culled over, and those who 
can do so have obtained places, the remainder are sent off" to 
the settlements to be treated in like manner. It is a com- 



MORMON WORSHIP, &c. 173 

mon thing for large families to be divided up to go to almost 
as many different localities as there are individuals, and this 
done without the consent of the parties. It is true they are 
not forcibly separated, but are " counselled " to go. This is 
as bad a feature as was one of the worst of negro slavery 
in the South a few years ago. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



MORMON WORSHIP AND MORMON DIGNITARIES 

The public worship of the Mormons consists of services 
at the Tabernacle every Sunday morning and afternoon, 
and also on the first Thursday of every month, which is 
observed as a fast day. They have meetings in the school- 
houses of the various wards on Sunday nights, also. Their 
form of public worship is similar to the services in Metho- 
dist churches on such occasions. A hymn is announced 
and sung, followed by a prayer, and then the discourses, 
after which another hymn is sung, and the congregation dis- 
missed with a prayer, or the benediction. During the sum- 
mer months, as I have before stated, services are held in the 
" Bowery " instead of the present Tabernacle, which is too 
small for the large congregations that assemble. 

At both morning and afternoon service at least two ser- 
mons are preached, and the Prophet is usually one of the 
speakers in the afternoon, when there are tke largest con- 
gregations. I have attended several meetings in the Bow- 
ery, and on the first day heard Mr. Geo. Q. Cannon, 
one of the Apostles, and Private Secretary to the President, 
address the people. The burden of his sermon (for I sup- 
pose it is styled such) was faithfulness to the church, with- 



174 



MORMON WORSHIP 



out specifying in what it consisted, and an abuse of the 
Government, to which he referred rather ingeniously as "our 
enemies," though at times was not at all ambiguous, and 
spoke of " conspirators against the church by men in high 
places, from the head of the nation down." He declared 
that nowithstanding all this the church would succeed, and 
remarked that God had wrought greater miracles in deliver- 
ing the Latter Day Saints from their enemies than he ever 
did in the deliverance of the children of Israel. 

Though an educated man himself, he spoke very dispar- 
agingly of education in general, and alluded to the many apos- 
tacies from the faith that had occurred with young men as- 
piring to professions. He warned the young ladies, especially, 
against cultivating any taste for the fine arts. This was 
probably suggested by the apostacy. of Miss Carmichael, a 
young lady of liberal education, who has written and pub- 
lished some very good poetry. 

Mr. Cannon is an educited man, with pleasing and refined 
manners, and appears to have a well-balanced mind. I am 
not willing, therefore, to accord to him that honesty 
which characterizes the great mass of the people, to which I 
shall refer hereafter. 

I have also heard the Prophet in the Tabernacle. His 
<c say " consisted in comments upon the remarks, and a his- 
tory of the religious life of a speaker who had preceded 
him ; in the hackneyed subject of faithfulness to the church, 
and in abuse of the Government because of what he declared 
was persecution and inconsistency, and as regards the latter, 
branched off on political topics a little, and referred to the 
inconsistency of Congress, which four years ago couldn't 
conceive of authority enough to give the President, but 
now wants to take from him that delegated in the Consti- 
tution. Among other strange remarks he made was that 
the Latter Day Saints were the only sane people on the 
subject of religion on the face of the earth. 

I heard the remarks of the brother to whom the Presi- 
dent alluded. It was his first sermon in the Mormon 
Church, and the only one I ever heard in which there was 



f 



AND MORIVfON DIGNITARIES. 175 

any spirituality. His history, as I gathered from the re- 
marks of both himself and the President, is as follows : He 
was educated for the ministry in Germany, and filled a pul- 
pit in a Lutheran church in that country for a few years, 
when he emigrated to the United States. He found in this 
country no sect exactly corresponding with the Church to 
which he belonged at home, and selecting the one that ap- 
proached nearest to it, he united himself with the Protest- 
ant Episcopal Church. Not long afterward he was given 
a parish somewhere in New York, and ministered unto his 
people for a few years, feeling, however, all this time, that 
he was not doing all he could for the Master. To be 
taught his proper and his whole duty he made a subject of 
special prayer, and sought in every possible way to ascer- 
tain what it was. Finally he had a vision (visions are very 
common with Mormons), and in it an angel came to him, 
and he inquired of the angel what he should do, when he 
was told " Go thy way." Rather vague instruction for 
one in ignorance of his duty, and he pressed the angel for 
an explanation. Then the light came. The angel said, 
M Go to my servant, Brigham Young, in Great Salt Lake 
City, and he will teach thee the way." His line of duty 
was then clear to him ; he gave up his church ; corres- 
ponded with the Prophet ; afterward removed to Utah, and 
is now an honest Mormon. 

The following day I had an interview with the Prophet, 
and mentioned that I heard him preach the day before, 
when he inquired if I heard the sermon preceding his, and 
appeared to be very proud of this new accession to his 
clergy. He said the man had been a student all his life, 
and had never done a day's manual labor before he arrived 
in Utah ; " but when he came here we put him to work as 
we do everybody." 

It grieved me to see a pious and educated man led into 
this ridiculous delusion. 

The fact of this man being educated was not a source of 
congratulation to Brigham, but his complete infatuation and 
submission were the great things. An idea of the Presi- 



176 MORMON WC3RSHIP 

dent's appreciation of education may be learned from the 
following : 

On Sunday afternoon, in the Bowery of Salt Lake, be- 
fore 3000 persons, during the summer of 1855, Orson 
Pratt was addressing the people on the necessity of study- 
ing from books. Said he : 

" Suppose you and I were deprived of all books, and that 
we had faith to get revelation, and no disposition to under- 
stand that which has been sought out, understood and re- 
corded in books, what would be our condition ? It would 
require an indefinite period in which to make any progress 
in the knowledge that is even now extant. " 

Brigham rose, his dignity hurt, his temper ruffled, and he 
administered to Pratt, the presumptuous offender, one of the 
most outrageous tongue-lashings ever conceived of. He 
said : 

" The professor has told you that there are many books 
in the world, and I tell you there are many people in the 
world; he says there is something in all these books, I say 
each one of these persons has a name ; he says it would do 
you good to. learn that something, and I say it would do you 
just as much good to learn these somebodies' names. Were 
I to live to the age of Methuselah, and every hour of my 
life learn something new out of some of these books, and 
remember every particle I had acquired, five minutes' reve- 
lation would teach me more truth, and more right, than all 
this nonsense that I should have packed in my unlucky 
brains." 

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is administered 
every Sunday afternoon. Water is substituted for wine 
(which was formerly used, but has been abandoned because 
too expensive) as one of the emblems, and after being 
blessed is passed around through the congregation, during 
the delivery of the sermon, and appeared to me as any other 
than a solemn service. The water and bread is blessed by 
Bishop Hunter, the Chief Bishop, and passed by three 
Elders selected for that office, to the President, his two 
colleagues, and then to the others on the stand in the order 



AND MORMON DIGNITARIES. 177 

of rank. Teachers and priests, a lower class of officials, 
then distribute the emblems through the congregation. 

Fasting on Sunday morning before going to " meeting " 
is enjoined upon all the members, and they are expected to 
contribute the value of the breakfast thus saved to chari- 
table purposes. 

The exercises in the Bowery I would not have supposed 
to be of a religious character if the hymns and prayers had 
been omitted ; and those of the ward-meetings partake 
much less of worship, though they are called religious meet- 
ings. They are presided over by the Bishops, who explain 
to the people the most successful ways of raising poultry, 
cattle, etc., and settle any little disputes that may have oc- 
curred during the week about their irrigating, water, etc. 
Should a sister have been seen taking butter or eggs or any 
article to Camp Douglas, to realize a little cash from their 
sale, her Bishop is very likely at the next ward-meeting, to 
give the sisters a lecture about being too intimate with Gen- 
tiles, and to refer very plainly to the conduct of the offend- 
ing one. 

The grand religious occasions of the year are during the 
sessions of the semiannual conferences in April and Octo- 
ber. These meetings are for the transaction of church 
business, by the Bishops and others, when their presence in 
a collective capacity is necessary, but the laity are also as- 
sembled to elect officers and attend religious services. 
During the sessions, which continue for four or five days, 
there is service morning and afternoon of each day at the 
Bowerv, but the extensive accommodations it affords are 
very inadequate for the occasions. The people collect in 
vast crowds, and stand patiently within sight, but not with- 
in hearing of the speaker, reminding me of the scene at an 
inauguration of a President in Washington, when a large 
proportion of the crowd are unable to hear a word that is 
said, but appear very much interested in the gesticulations 
of the speaker. Conference days the city is crowded with 
people. Every variety of vehicle to be observed at a coun- 
try camp-meeting may be seen standing about the streets, 



178 MORMON WORSHIP 

and the enthusiasm of the people is kept up by bands of 
music playing near Temple Square on Main street. They 
are great days in Zion ! 

Frequent efforts have been made by the Mormons to 
conduct Sabbath-schools in Salt Lake City, but so far they 
have all proved failures, generally not continuing for more 
than three days. 

Recently a Gentile Sabbath-school has been started and 
promises to be very successful. At one time a number of 
Mormon children attended, but the edict of the President, 
forbidding them to do so, went forth, and they were with- 
drawn. 

The Mormons are exceedingly fond of dancing, which 
is regarded as a very important part of their education. 

Daring the winter there are dances two or three times a 
week in every ward, and on special occasions, such as re- 
ligious and other anniversaries, grander entertainments are 
given by the prominent in the church in " Social Hall," a 
building owned by Brigham, and rented for such purposes. 

From these social gatherings the Gentiles are not ex- 
cluded, the mpre liberal of them being usually invited. A 
better state of feeling exists between the officers stationed 
at Camp Douglas and the Mormon authorities, than during 
the incumbency of General Connor as Commandant of 
that post. These officers and their families are occasion- 
ally invited, and attend these entertainments, without in the 
least compromising themselves. General Connor would 
have regarded such conduct a sufficient cause for dismissal. 

Like the Irishman who thought "St. Patrick a greater 
man than the Fourth of July," the Mormons regard the 
26th of July, the day on which they reached the valley, as 
altogether a more important anniversary than our Indepen- 
dence Day. It is celebrated by reviews of the militia, pa- 
rades, picnics, social convivial parties, special theatrical 
performances, etc. The more extensive of these demon- 
strations take place biannually. Last year it was cele- 
brated only by an extra performance at the theatre, and a 
partial suspension of business. Those whose loyalty to 



AND MORMON DIGNITARIES. 179 

Mormonism led them to close their stores were honored by 
a band of music playing in front of each closed store about 
noon. The Fourth of July is but little regarded by the 
saints. 

There is nothing peculiar in the dress of the Mormons. 
It presents a great variety of styles, unequalled in that re- 
spect by any people. The wives and daughters of the 
President generally dress tastefully and fashionably, as do 
many other ladies in Salt Lake City. The masses of the 
people wear every variety and style of garment worn in any 
part of Europe during the last century, but the majority wear 
cloth of their own making. I was much amused one day, 
during their last semiannual conference, at the appearance 
of a sister who came into the Bowery shortly after I had 
been seated there. She was probably one of the late arri- 
vals. Her dress attracted the attention of even her sisters, 
who have become accustomed to every variety. The strik- 
ing peculiarity was a white lace veil of immense size, most 
elaborately embroidered, which was thrown over a decid- 
edly antique-looking bonnet, and hanging to the waist all 
around. It reminded me of one my mother had when I 
was a boy, something less than fifty years ago, that she 
preserved as a curiosity of the times when her grandmother 
was a girl. The dress of the men is about as varied as that 
of the women. I have frequently seen the clergy go into 
the pulpit with linen coats and no vests ; and on one very 
hot day I think I saw a brother, who was actively engaged 
in passing the bread and water from the stand to those who 
administered it to the congregation, in his shirt-sleeves. 

I should have remarked before that education is most 
shamefully neglected. They have no system of public 
schools. There are schools in each ward, and during the 
months of November, December, and January, are pretty 
well attended by scholars of both sexes, varying from five 
to twenty-five years of age, but the standard of education in 
them is very low. During the winter months a school will 
number seventy-five scholars ; but as soon as the farming 
season begins, it will fall off to fifteen or twenty, and those 



180 MORMON WORSHIP 

that remain are very young — little children of six or eight 
years, who are sent from home to be kept out of mischief. 
The teachers of these schools are not paid by the city, but 
the parents are charged for the children they send. The 
fees received are usually vegetables, fruit, butter, &c. The 
schools of Salt Lake City are quite in keeping with Brig- 
ham's ideas of education referred to elsewhere. 

I will now endeavor to give an account of the appearance, 
&c, of the Prophet and his prominent associates. 

A few days after my arrival at Camp Douglas, I gratified 
my curiosity by calling upon the President at his residence. 
I was received in his private office, and no one being pres- 
ent but his second colleague and the gentleman who intro- 
duced me, I had a good opportunity of conversing with the 
remarkable man, and of observing him under favorable cir- 
cumstances. 

As I stated to the gentleman who accompanied me, that 
I was actuated only by curiosity in desiring to see his friend 
who had become so noted a character, and with this knowl- 
edge he invited me to go, so I feel more at liberty to make 
public my impressions of him gathered from that interview 
than I would under different circumstances. Moreover, 
Brigham Young is a public character, and all such must 
•expect to be criticised. Mr. Young is a native of Vermont, 
was born in 1801, and is remarkably well preserved for a 
man of his age. I should not have recognized him as the 
individual I had seen in the "Bowery," or the one whose 
photograph I had obtained. He appeared not so large, nor 
was his bearing as commanding or dignified. His forehead 
is contracted and his eyes small, with cunning well depicted 
in them, and giving him a reserved expression. His mouth 
of moderate size, with thin compressed lips, and a prominent 
chin, indicating decision. His hair is sandy, mixed with 
silvery threads, and his unshaven face, with beard of two 
weeks' growth, which he was making into whiskers, gave to 
it the usual unsightly appearance under such circumstances. 
At first he seemed inclined to reticence, but in a few min- 
utes this passed off, and he conversed freely and even per- 



AND MORMON DIGNITARIES. 181 

petrated a joke. Whenever I spoke he seemed to observe 
my countenance closely, as if studying my character in my 
physiognomy. His health is robust and his habits exceed- 
ingly regular. He never employs a doctor for himself or 
any member of his family. He is said to be the best dancer 
in Salt Lake City, and, though sixty-six years of age, trips 
across the floor as lightly and with all the fancy steps of a 
young dancing-master. He is fond of the amusement, and 
indulges freely in it at social parties. He is also an admirer 
of the drama, and is seldom absent from the theatre when 
there is a performance ; has a box used only by himself and 
last wife, and occasionally some friend or relative. These 
latter habits are hardly in keeping with his position as 
prophet, seer, revelator and translator of the Church of 
Latter Day Saints. 

I was rather disappointed in the man. I think he is with- 
out that strength of intellect which is generally attributed to 
him by both Mormon and Gentile. He is unquestionably 
a man of indomitable will, of great diplomacy, of remarkable 
business capacity, and, as a financier, is probably without an 
equal west of the Missouri River; and as a leader of a 
fanatical religious people under the most trying circumstan- 
ces, history furnishes none who have surpassed him. His 
early advantages of education have not been great, nor has 
he improved himself very much in riper years. His pro- 
nunciation is decidedly bad, and his bad grammar cannot be 
altogether the result of carelessness. His general informa- 
tion I should think was very good. I was treated with 
much courtesy, and after he had laid aside his reserve, which 
any man so much an object of curiosity would be expected 
to acquire, to a greater or less extent,his social qualities met my 
admiration. I persisted in addressing him as Mr. Young, 
rather to the annoyance of my friend, who always styled him 
Mr. President in conversation. Upon rising to leave we 
shook hands, and walking toward the door he cordially in- 
vited me to call again. 

I had no conversation with the Second President, Heber 
C, Kimball, to whom I referred as being present, but when 



/ 



182 MORMON WORSHIP 

about leaving he shook me warmly by the hand and asked 
that the blessing of the Lord might follow me. He is about 
the age of Brigham Young, is a large muscular man, and 
neither his appearance or conversation would lead a strang- 
er to suspect that he was the second president of a reli- 
gious sect. He was a blacksmith before he joined the Mor- 
mons, and looks not unlike one now. He has a Sun-of- 
Thunder style of delivering his harangues from the pulpit. 
His elocution would cause Professor Bailey of Yale to 
faint, and his irreverence would be pronounced profanity 
by any Christian minister I know, except, perhaps, one T 
once met in Washington, who is somewhat of the same 
manner of man. But irreverence is not the striking pecu- 
larity of his sermons They often partake of such disgust- 
ing obscenity that a sense of propriety and modesty will 
not allow me to refer to here even in general terms. And 
still he publicly declares that his sermons are not prepared 
beforehand, but he speaks only as be is moved by the Holy 
Spirit. One might suppose the influence of some other 
spirit operated. The editor of the Millennial Star was once 
severely reproved for modifying the sermons of Mr. Kim- 
ball, so that they would not shock the English reader with 
their vulgarity and indecency. He was sternly directed to 
publish them literally as he received them. Mr. Kimball 
acknowledges the most profound allegiance to " Brother 
Bingham," and pays to him all the homage of the most hum- 
ble of the Mormons, He is wealthy, and is reported as hav- 
ing a greater number of wives than Brigham Young — how 
many 1 am unable to say. He is illiterate and vulgar in 
every sense of the word. Knowing the man by reputation, 
I did not feel safer or more comfortable after receiving his 
benediction. 

Mr. Daniel H. Wells, the Third President, is a man of 
considerably over fifty years, tall, spare, with a <"hin, sharp 
face, and a prominent crooked nose, presenting altogether 
a very ungainly appearance for a Mormon President or Lieu- 
tenant-General. In the latter capacity he was in the field 
in command of the army of saints in 1857-8, when they 



AND MORMON DIGNITARIES. 183 

occupied a position in Echo Canon, to which I have referred 
in a previous chapter. I have not been in the society of Mr. 
Wells, but learn that he is quite illiterate, and is an honest 
Mormon. 

He is a much more moderate polygamist than either of 
his colleagues — having only seven wives. They were all 
taken from the humblest walks of life. 

But few of the other leaders of the church are known to 
fame, and I will not occupy space in referring to them, as I 
have the three presidents. Orson Hyde, John Taylor, 
George Q^ Cannon and Orson Pratt, are probably the best 
educated men among them. The last-named is regarded 
as the philosopher of the church. I quoted him in my 
last in explaining doctrinal points. He is regarded with a 
good deal of jealousy by the President, who in consequence 
keeps him most of the time on missions, or other duty re- 
quiring him to be absent from Zion. 

Orson Hyde is also regarded as a dangerous man. He 
is a brilliant orator, and a good writer. His associates, who 
are fearful and jealous on account of his abilities, and his 
presumption sometimes in preaching in a way not very satis- 
factory to the President, style him the "big bead." He is 
said to have apostatized during the life of Smith, the first 
Prophet, and afterward joined the church again. 

The large majority of their preachers are exceedingly il- 
literate, and it is torturing to sit and hear their bad English, 
when there is an entire absence of argument or point in their 
remarks. 

The masses should receive more notice than I can give 
them in this article. Nine-tenths, if not nineteen-twentieths, 
as I have before stated, are converts to the faith through the 
labors of missionaries in England, Wales, Scotland and Den- 
mark. There are but few Germans among them, fewer 
Irish, and still fewer Americans, though the principal offi- 
cers are natives of this country, and Brigham manages always 
to keep it so. 

I must add a few words about the people as they are 
found here. After settling in Utah, whatever may have 



1 84 MORMON WORSHIP 

been their previous pursuits, the people with great una- 
nimity turn their attention to agricultural pursuits, and 
raising of cattle. It constitutes them a more inde- 
pendent people, and indeed such is necessary, as there 
is but little market for manufactured articles. They 
Jive upon the products of their farms, or what they use that 
is not produced there, some article that is, is traded for it. 
I imagine that there are many Mormons who have been 
several years in Utah who have never seen a greenback or 
piece of coin during their residence there. 

Notwithstanding their industry and thriftiness, they re- 
main poor, because of the little sale there is for their produce, 
and the tax of the church upon every thing. One-tenth of 
all the profits of the merchant, of the pay of the laborer, 
and of the products of the farmer, go directly into the tith- 
ing office. This rule is universal, and knows no exception. 

Of the honesty and uprightness in business transactions 
and general good moral character of the masses, particularly 
in the smaller settlements, I can speak as complimentary as 
I can of their industry and frugality. 

Some of my lady readers would be pleased, I have no doubt, 
to read a description of the more prominent of their sex j 
but I am unable to give that from personal observation, or 
association with them. When I called upon the President 
his courtesy and hospitality did not extend to an invitation 
to visit a few of the Mrs. Youngs or his daughters. I will, 
however, give a description of Amelia, the last wife of Brig- 
ham, as drawn by Mrs. Wait. Before doing so I would 
with all deference to the author suggest that it be received 
cumgrano salts. It is not onlv extravagant, but parts of it 
inconsistent with her own delineations of the character of 
Brigham given elsewhere in the same book. She says : 

" Amelia Folsom is a native of Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
shire. She is tall, well formed, with light hair and gray 
eyes, and regular features. She is quite pale, owing to ill 
health. Has but little refinement of manner. When at 
the theatre sitting in the king's box with her husband, the 
observed of all observers, she may be seen eating apples, 



AND MORMON DIGNITARIES. 185 

throwing the skins about, chatting with Brigham, and occa- 
sionally levelling her glass at some one in the assembly. 
SVe plays and sings with indifferent skill and taste. She 
was for a long time unwilling to marry the President, but he 
continued his suit with a pertinacity worthy of a better 
cause ; and by repeated promises of advancement made to 
herself and her parents, finally succeeded. For several 
months he urged his suit, during which time his carriage 
might be seen almost any day standing at her father's door, 
for hours at a time. He told her she was created expressly 
for himself, and could marry no one else, on pain of ever- 
lasting destruction. She plead, protested, and wept, but he 
persevered, and at length, when all other arguments failed, 
he told her he had received a special revelation from heaven 
on the subject. She had always believed in Mormonism, 
and had been taught to have faith in revelation. 'Amelia,* 
he said, 'you must be my wife. God has revealed it to me. 
You cannot be saved by any one else. If you will marry 
me I will save you and exalt you to be a queen in the celes- 
tial world; but if you refuse you will be destroyed, both 
soul and body !' 

" The poor girl believed in this impostor, and yielding to 
his wishes became his wife. For several months after her 
marriage Amelia was sad and dejected, but of late she has 
rallied, and appears the gayest of the gay. 

* =K * H« * * 

" Amelia is evidently living under constraint, and acting an 
assumed character. She is playing the role of a happy wife 
with a broken heart. At the time of her marriage her 
heart had been given to another to whom she should have 
been married. That she compromised her character in 
marrying Young under these circumstances, is a fact too no- 
torious to be concealed. 

"Nevertheless, Amelia stands the recognized queen of the 
harem. She leads the ton and is the envied woman of the 
saints. Thousands bow low as she passes, and think them : 
selves happy to receive her passing recognition. [This is 
literally ridiculous and untrue ; no more homage is paid to hei 

0* 



i86 MORMON WORSHIP, &c. 

than to any other woman.] She is now a queen, and is to be 
a goddess in the celestial world. The new wife is sometimes 
restive atid impatient, and treats her liege lord shabbily. 
She is at times notional and imperious, and somewhat 
coquettish — to all of which her husband submits with good 
grace for the present and pets her as a child. 

2K ^^ ^^ ^t* ^^ ^^ 

" The theatre was dedicated by prayer and a grand ball. 
This was in the winter of 1862-63. Brigham led off in the 
dance with Amelia, and all was smiles and sunshine. On 
another occasion he honored another of the women with 
his hand for the first cotillon. This so displeased Amelia 
that she refused to dance with him at all. He ccaxed, she 
shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. It was only 
after much solicitation on his part that she granted her for- 
giveness and consented to dance with him. 

****** 

"Amelia is tyrannical, and rules the women of the 
harem with a strong hand. Poor Emmeline (she next preceded 
Amelia as the favorite) is quite broken-hearted. Naturally 
very sensitive, she lives to drag out a miserable life." 

In fact, all the women are unhappy and miserable. A 
common remark in reply to the usual salutation is, " Oh, I've 
got the blues to-day." 

One of the noted characters among the Mormons that I 
have not mentioned is Porter Rockwell, said to have been 
the leader of the Danites, or " Avenging Angels." It is 
represented that this band was employed in making way 
with such as became obnoxious to the Mormon hierarchy. 
That many have disappeared mysteriously, or been "killed 
by the Indians" when the Indians were committing no de- 
predations, cannot be doubted, but whether or not Porter 
Rockwell has the blood of such victims on his skirts I can- 
not say. I think it doubtful whether he is more guilty than 
many others. He does not look like a murderer, and it is 
my impression that the Danite Band has been a good deal 
of a bugbear. Gentiles feared the Destroying Angels as 
negroes in our Southern cities fear the doctors after 



HOW MORMONISM, &c. 187 

dark. I would not have the reader infer from this that I 
believe the Mormons above such acts, for on that subject I 
have something to add in my next, but I doubt if Porter has 
been more guilty than others. The weight of opinion with 
Gentiles in Utah is against me in this particular. 

Porter Rockwell has become exceedingly fond of whis- 
kev in these latter days, and but seldom visits the city with- 
out getting drunk. On such occasions he manifests none 
of that violence which one might suppose would then al- 
most certainly exhibit itself in one so desperate as he is 
represented to be. When drunk he is perfectly harmless, 
and the exuberance of vitality on such occasions is relieved 
by loud shouts, which may be heard for squares. He is 
otherwise orderly and well-behaved, even when drunk. He 
wears his hair long, and a friend informed me that he has 
not cut it since the murder of Joseph Smith, and says he 
will not until he has avenged his death upon the man who 
shot him. He may be more especially the avenging angel 
of Joseph the martyr, if not one in general. 



CHAPTER XX. 

CRIMES OF THE MORMONS AND HOW MORMONISM MAY 

BE ERADICATED. 

The leaders of the Mormon Church claim to be tolerant; 
but they are so only so far as their tolerance may conduce 
to their interests. That they have been guilty of rigid per- 
secution of those whose acts seemed to endanger the suc- 
cess of their corrupt sect, and that they have been prompted 
by malice and desire -for revenge in perpetrating the gross- 
est crimes, are indisputable facts. 



188 HOW MORMONISM 

/One of the most cowardly and bloody massacres that 
I have seen recorded took place on the tenth of September, 
1857, at Mountain Meadows, a valley in a sparsely settled 
country, about three hundred miles south of Salt Lake City. 
The history of this horrible tragedy is briefly as follows : 

In the summer of 1857, a large train, with emigrants 
for California, consisting of men, women and children to the 
number of about one hundred and forty persons, passed 
through Salt Lake City, and proceeded southward on 
the usual route to Los Angelos. When they reached the 
locality where the bloody tragedy I am about re- 
lating was enacted, their stock was first run off by 
what appeared to be Indians, but really Mormons disguised 
as such. Their enemies making hostile demonstrations, 
the emigrants got together their wagons, and throwing up 
earth about them made a work of defence. Their assailants 
occupied the hills around, and fought them for several days 
without gaining any advantage. Finding it impossible to 
capture them without serious loss, they resorted to strategy 
and deception. Several prominent Mormons took a wagon 
and went around so as to approach the emigrants from the 
head of the meadows, and as they did so exhibited a white 
flag. The emigrants recognizing white men in the wagon 
allowed them to approach, and held up a little girl dressed 
in white to answer the signal. The Mormons entered the 
fort. They represented that they had talked with the " In- 
dians," and found them very furious- — determined to cap- 
ture the party at all hazards; but that they (the Mormons) 
would negotiate with the u Indians" for terms of surrender 
if it was desired. They were requested to do so, and after 
a short absence returned with the " Indians' " alternative — 
the surrender of everything, and their lives would be spared. 
In addition to the purported agreement on the part of the 
assailants, as their part of the treaty, not to injure the emi- 
grants personally, the Mormon negotiators proposed to 
furnish an escort of forty armed men to conduct them 
back to the settlements. Harsh as were the terms, they 
were accepted ■> the presence of helpless women and children 



MAY BE ERADICATED. 189 

doubtless influencing the emigrants in their decision. The 
escort arrived, and the unsuspecting emigrants abandoned 
everything, and marched out of their fort. The women 
and children were in front, the men behind them, and the 
guard in the rear of all. In this order they marched a short 
distance, when at a given signal the "Indians" rushed upon 
the party, shooting dead by the first volley, the men and af- 
terward the women and children, except seventeen of the 
latter who were supposed to be too young to tell the tale of 
this horrid butchery. No injury was sustained by the es- 
cort. 

Judge Cradlebaugh very graphically describes this massa- 
cre in a speech he delivered in the House of Representa- 
tives, when a delegate from Nevada Territory. The Judge 
appends to the speech the affidavits of a number of individ- 
uals, that convict, beyond all question, the Mormons as the 
perpetrators of this crime. / The evidence of their guilt 
may be summed up as follows : First, the statements of 
friendly Indians, giving the particulars so minutely, and so 
in accordance with known facts, as to be of themselves very 
strong evidence. They explained how the Mormons dis- 
guised themselves, and pointed out the place where they as- 
sumed the disguise. Second, the testimony of apostate 
Mormons, who resided in the locality, and knew of the plans 
of the murderers, and how they were executed. Third, the 
testimony of some who actually participated in the crime,, 
and afterward went to Judge Cradlebaugh at night, being 
afraid to do so by daylight, and gave a full account of the 
horrible affair. These parties offered to go before a court 
of justice, and testify to the facts if they could be guaran- 
teed protection in their lives after doing so. The statements 
of these parties corroborated the statements of the Indians. 
Fourth, the statement of the children who escaped, who 
were old enough to observe and remember. In speaking of 
these children the Judge remarked : " I recollect one 
of them, John Calvin Sorrow, after he found he was 
safe, and before he was brought away from Salt Lake City r 
although not then nine years of age, sitting in a contempla- 



i 9 o HOW MORMONISM 

tive mood, no doubt thinking of the extermination of his 
family, saying, "Oh, I wish I was a man ! I know what I 
would do. I would shoot John D. Lee ; I saw him shoot 
my mother, and I shall never forget how he looked." 

In addition to what has been stated already Major (after- 
ward Major-General) Fitz-John Porter, Assistant Adjutant- 
General of Gen. A Sidney Johnston, in his official report, 
directly charges this crime upon the Mormons ; and Mr. A. 
Forney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, after a most mi- 
nute and careful investigation, arrived at the conclusion that 
the concoctors and principal perpetrators of the massacre 
were Mormons, the Indians acting only a secondary part. 

Brigham Young, who was at the time Superintendent of 
Indian Affairs in the territory, Mr. Forney not succeeding 
him until 1859, made no allusion to the massacre whch was 
so manifestly his duty to have done, if the Indians partici- 
pated at all, in his annual report. Nor did he for a long 
time refer to it in the pulpit, and when he did so, of course 
it was to deny the guilt of the Mormons. 

Any amount of presumptive evidence might be cited that 
points to the guilt of the Mormons ; but their complicity as 
well as their responsibility for the Mountain Meadow massa- 
cre, is a fact too well substantiated to admit of a doubt by 
an impartial mind, and will ever live in history a foul stig- 
ma upon the characters of the Mormon leaders. 

Some years after the horrible murder, General Carlton 
marched a column of troops by the locality, when he found 
the bones of the slain still bleaching upon the meadow. 
Here and there lay a skull, with the long hair attached, in- 
dicating the sex of the murdered, and interspersed with the 
others were the small bones of the children. Even then, 
an officer declares the sight to have been horrible and sick- 
ening. The General had these bones collected and buried, 
and over the spot he made a mound from which was raised 
a wooden cross, and on it he placed the inscription: " Ven- 
geance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord." Not long 
afterward Brigham Young visited the locality, and about 
the same time the rude monument was demolished. 



MAY BE ERADICATED. 191 

As to the perpetration of other crimes in the same local- 
ity, by the same parties, I will refer again to the speech of 
Judge Cradlebaugh. On this subject he remarks : 

" Sitting as committing magistrate, complaint after com- 
plaint was made before me of murders, and robberies. 
Among these I may mention as particularly and shockingly 
prominent the murder of Forbes, the assassination of the 
Parishes and Potter, of Jones and his mother, of the Aiken 
party, of which there were six in all, and worst and darkest 
in the appalling catalogue of blood, was the cowardly and 
cold-blooded butchery and robbery at the Mountain Mea- 
dows." 

That these crimes might be brought before the law, and 
the perpetrators punished, the Judge established a court in 
the vicinity, with military protection, and impannelled a 
grand jury of Mormons, of course, as there were no other 
residents to compose it, and their attention was called to the 
cases before alluded to ; but " the jury thus instructed, 
though kept in session two weeks, utterly refused to do any- 
thing, and were finally discharged as an evidently useless 
appendage of a court of justice." This jury furnishes an 
example of the fact, to which I have elsewhere referred, 
that a Mormon jury would not convict a Mormon prisoner. 

But Judge Cradlebaugh was determined to leave nothing 
undone that was in his power to do, to bring the criminals 
to punishment; and as the grand jury would not find a 
" bill," he decided to issue bench-warrants, which were 
placed in the hands of the marshal, aided by a military 
posse y when a general stampede took place among the Mor- 
mons ; and, says the Judge, " what I want most particularly 
to call your attention to as a particularly noticeable fact, that 
this occurred more among the church officials and civil 
officers." 

Another act of barbarity occurred in 1862. A band of 
disaffected Mormons (disaffected so far as the rule of Brigham 
was concerned) separated from the church under the leader- 
ship of one Morris, and were known as the Morrisites. He 
established a settlement on the Weber River. A dispute 



192 HOW MORMONISM 

arose between the Morrisites and Brighamites, as to the 
authority of the latter to impose fines, and levy taxes upon 
a people who claimed the same right to exercise an inde- 
pendent government as had those who oppressed them. For 
some offence, the Morrisites resisted a civil officer of Brio:- 
nam's government, when the official obtained a large armed 
posse, and again visited the settlement to serve the writs* 
Foolishly the Morrisites still resisted, and retaining the fanat- 
icism they had acquired under Brigham, they were pre- 
sumptuous enough to accept battle. Being very much in 
the minority, they were compelled to surrender, and did so, 
giving up their arms. The Mormon sheriff then rode into 
their fort, inquired for Morris, when a poor old helpless 
fanatic was pointed out to him, and drawing his pistol shot 
him dead in cold blood. Two or three of the party were 
murdered in the same way. 

As late as last November, a most cowardly and dastardly 
murder was committed in Salt Lake City, under circum- 
stances which would seem to implicate the church authori- 
ties. The murdered man was a Dr. Robinson, a Gentile, 
who had lived. in the city for several years, and practiced 
his profession as a physician ; and the circumstances were 
these : One evening, after the doctor had retired, two indi- 
viduals called at his house, and requested his professional 
services, representing that a friend had a fractured thigh. 
The doctor immediately dressed, and started on what he 
supposed a mission of mercy, and after proceeding a few 
squares was shot through the head, and died shortly after- 
ward, remaining unconscious from the time he received the 
wound. Mrs. Robinson knew of the two men calling, but 
did not know who they were. Notwithstanding the most 
searching investigation on the part of the C^W Justice and 
the Governor, no clue whatever could 1 e had o the mur- 
derers. 

The suspicious circumstances connected with Dr. Rob- 
inson's murder are these : He had been for some time con- 
ducting a suit against the Mormon authorities for the pos- 
session of the land upon which the Warm Springs are lo- 



MAY BE ERADICATED. 193 

cated. He claimed a preemption right to the property, 
which the Mormons refused to recognize, and the church, 
or the city, or Brigham Young, or all combined, also claimed 
the ownership, and held possession of the property. Taking 
into consideration these facts, together with that of his be- 
ing a Gentile, and a kind, gentle and popular man, without 
personal enemies to the knowledge of any of his friends > 
is well calculated to cast suspicion upon the Mormon author- 
ities. The Gentiles who have lived longest in the city, and 
ought to understand the people best, are strongly of the 
opinion that there was complicity on the part of some of 
those who every Sabbath occupy seats in the pulpit at the 
Bowery. 

On the other hand the Mormon press most violently de- 
nounce the murder, and Brigham Young, and the principal 
of their merchants, have become subscribers for a reward 
for the arrest of the murderers. This the anti-Mormons 
pronounce to be in keeping with the acts of saints generally, 
under such circumstances, and done to divert suspicion. 

About the time of the Robinson murder, several other 
citizens of Salt Lake narrowly escaped the severe vengeance 
of the Mormons, for an offence which is the only one Dr. 
Robinson is known to have committed against them — that 
of claiming public lands in the vicinity of Zion. These 
lands have not been surveyed, nor brought into market, and 
the parties that settled upon them considered that they were 
subject to the same laws that govern other unsurveyed pub- 
lic land. Several small tracts of these were preempted and 
occupied. Among other settlers was Dr. Williamson, wh» 
had erected a temporary building on a quarter section near 
the Jordan. A raid was made on all such about the same 
time, and their buildings destroyed. Some of the parties 
came near being roughly handled,and among them the doctor, 
who was caught, tied, and wrapped in an old tent, preparato- 
ry to making a literal Jordan his entrance way into eternity";. 
but he was not the least disconcerted by their conduct, and 
very coolly informed the mob that he would prefer that they 
should "shoot him as they would a dog, rather than drown 



i 9 4 HOW MORMONISM 

him as they would a cat." Whether they admired his coolness, 
so as to induce them to desist, or the whole was intended as a 
scare, I am'unable to say. The doctor being unable to take 
possession of lands in Zion took one of her fair daughters. I 
afterward saw him married to Miss Carmichael, the apostate 
poetess, to whom I have before alluded, and shaking off 
the dust of the wicked city from their feet, the bride and 
groom proceeded eastward to the States. 

While the preemption excitement was rife, it was frequent- 
ly the theme of pulpit discourses, and one Sabbath after- 
noon, when a large congregation had assembled in the Bow- 
ery, Brigham alluded to this subject, and commenting upon 
the acts of the Gentile settlers, remarked that if one of them 
should go on his land (referring to land unlawfully granted 
to him by the territorial legislature) he would " Give him a 
preemption to a small tract that would last him to the day 
of judgment " — meaning that he should have a grave. This 
remark, considered in connection with the assassination of 
Dr. Robinson, for an offence which the President declares 
would justify murder, leads some- the more strongly to sus- 
pect that the doctor's murder was by authority. 

The Mormons are an enigma to the Christian world, and 
the question " What holds together this strange people ? " 
has been asked me more than once, and the same question, 
I have no doubt, has arisen in the minds of some who have 
read these chapters. 

It might be answered almost as briefly as propounded, 
<l Their own infatuation, and the ability of Brigham Young, 
as their leader." 

With a view to enlighten the public who may feel any 
interest in the matter, I have referred to the different fea- 
tures of their history as a sect, and to their character as indi- 
viduals — to their virtues, as well as to their vices — and my 
motives have been as little influenced by prejudice in one 
instance as in the other. I have received no favors to prompt 
words of praise ; nor have I been injured to incite words of 
condemnation. The conclusions which I may submit, are 
drawn from a careful study of the people, and I would fain 



MAY BE ERADICATED. 195 

hope that something contained in these chapters may tend 
to promote the accomplishment of two great ends— the 
removal of a disgrace from the nation, and the enlightenment 
of an ignorant, deluded people. 

I will endeavor to explain why I have answered the in- 
terrogatory about the unity of the Mormons as I have. 
Several times already I have alluded to the masses— to their 
deplorable ignorance, and religious enthusiasm. As a whole, 
a more honest and conscientious people are not to be found, 
nor a people so completely controlled by the will of one man. 
Brigham Young is worshipped as a god, and considered as 
incapable of error. He tells them they are the chosen peo- 
ple of the Almighty, and that the Mormon Church is ulti- 
mately to cover the face of the whole world. Not only 
earthly possessions, but celestial glory, await the faithful, 
and more particularly those who endure the afflictions of the 
church, in this her hour of trial. They are taught that the 
Government is the enemy of the church, as are all individu- 
als not within her pale. The people believe it all, and noth- 
ing that the Prophet requires is considered too great a sacri- 
fice j and nothing that the instincts of their nature, and the 
education of their whole lives teach them to be a crime, is 
reo-arded as other than a virtue if enjoined by him. They 
consider that they are doing God service in murdering help- 
less immigrant women and children, or becoming the assas- 
sin, in the dark hour of night, when their victim is on a 
mission of mercy. 

That they so understand their duty is evidenced in a con- 
versation between Mr. Colfax and his companions, and 
Brio-ham Young and his associates, on an occasion to 
which I have once before alluded. The subject of 
polygamy was being discussed and their usual argu- 
ments in its defence — the practice of the ancient church, 
and God's revelation to Joseph Smith — were advanced. In 
explanation, one of the saints contended that their under- 
standing of God's will was above all human law, and they 
understood it to be His will that they should multiply wives. 
A hypothetical case was then submitted, and the brother 



196 HOW MORMONISM 

asked if he should be taught that it was God's will for him 
to kill his son, or his enemy, would he do so. The reply 
was prompt in the affirmative. Then how is God's will com- 
municated ? They believe, most implicitly, through their 
Revelator,their President. Hiscommands,tothe Mormon,are 
the commands of Heaven. If Brigham Young tells a saint 
to murder his son, or his enemy, as a sacrifice, that saint 
tells us he would do so. Where is greater infatuation than 
this ? or where more dangerous power in the hands of one man ? 

I can more easily understand the people than I can un- 
derstand their leader, and have been in doubt whether to re- 
gard him as an impostor, or class him in the same category 
as his followers. The man viewed from one stand-point 
would appear as honest in the discharge of a stern, religious 
duty, and when viewed from another he would appear as an 
impostor. There is but little doubt of his honesty when he 
embraced Mormonism ; and his devotion to the sect, when 
there was no prospect of personal benefit in life following,even 
in her darkest hours, when everything seemed to foreshadow 
its destruction, cannot be accounted for on selfish motives. 

But without discussing this question further I will admit 
the possibility of his being sincere ; but at the same time I 
must believe him to be unscrupulous as to the means he 
uses to accomplish his plans. His acts must be upon that 
corrupt principle, that the end justifies the means, and he 
does what he knows to be evil with the hope that good may 
result. If he is honest in his present conceptions of right 
and truth, such honesty must be the result of gradual educa- 
tion of his conscience. While I can conceive of the possi- 
bility of this, I cannot conceive of the possibility of a man 
of Brigham Young's opportunities being always so morally 
blinded. I think that, now, he may do much for expediency, 
that would have been very repugnant to his ideas of propri- 
ety twenty years ago. 

An impostor is dangerous only so far as he may be able to 
carry his deception. In his practices he is controlled some- 
what by reason, as to his surroundings ; and is mindful of 
the consequences of over-reaching probabilities, as deter 



MAY BE ERADICATED. 197 

mined by the judgments of the class upon whom he desires 
to operate. He sees the prospect of failure, if he neglects 
to do so, and is controlled by a regard for law, which will 
punish him, if violated. He avoids bringing his system into 
collision with a stronger one, and will not defy a stronger 
power. 

But with the fanatic it is different. His reason is im- 
paired. He sees things from a different stand-point, and fails 
to realize what is extravagant in his pretensions, and his ex- 
travagancies are often the cause of his success with the 
weak and visionary. They see the unsoundness of his 
reasoning, but are captivated by his enthusiasm, and appar- 
ent honesty of purpose. He establishes a standard of his 
own, and is uninfluenced by the opinions of others. A fana- 
tic on a scientific theory may become ridiculous ; while a 
fanatic on religion may be dangerous as well as ridiculous. 
His honest convictions of duty may lead him to commit 
acts that are discountenanced by society, and punishable by 
law ; but he is governed by his ideas of accountability to a 
higher law. He defies punishment, believing that any he 
may receive will redound to his ultimate benefit. A reli- 
gious fanatic, then, is more dangerous than an impostor, and 
the extent to which he is dangerous is determined by his 
power and influence. Brigham Young I consider a more 
dangerous man, if honest, than he would be if an impostor. 
Joseph Smith, I think it has been clearly proven, was an 
impostor. His success was not attributable to the plausi- 
bility of his dogmas, so much as to his enthusiasm, and 
more than that, to the enthusiasm of the honest followers of 
a dishonest leader. United with their fanaticism was the 
cunning of Smith, which gave Mormonism its start ; and 
then following the martyrdom of their Prophet, as they re- 
garded him, the zeal of this credulous people increased ten- 
fold. The unfortunate murder of this Smith, has entailed 
Mormonism on the country to the present day. Had he 
lived ten years longer, in my opinion, the sect which he 
founded would be only a chapter in the history of the past. 
Brigham Young is unquestionably a far abler leader than 



198 HOW MORMONISM 

was Joseph Smith. He has proven himself a most extraor- 
dinary man. He has overcome obstacles that, would have 
disheartened the most sanguine. He removed his people 
far away into a comparatively unknown country, and settled 
on a barren waste, which was transformed into the most fer- 
tile and productive valley in the West. He shared in their 
toils and privations when necessary, and afterward enriched 
himself on their labor when opportunity offered. He has 
been the greatest despot in the world, and at the same time^ 
made his subjects believe him to be their greatest benefactor [ 
I have spoken of the honesty and infatuation of the peo- 
ple, and the influence of their leader over them. Another 
cause operating to bind them together is their isolation, and 
the ignorance in which they are kept alike of the teachings 
of Christianity and civilization. Is it strange, therefore, 
that the Mormons have existed for so many years as they 
have ? 

The existence of the sect I think will terminate with the 
life of their able leader. This is the opinion of all observ- 
ing people who have familiarized themselves with the history 
of the Mormons. 

But it is the duty of the Government, as well as the 
Christian Church, to relieve the country of a sect sanction- 
ing immorality and violating law. While the military 
power might be used in punishing the guilty, and compel- 
ling a greater regard for the letter of the law, it can do 
nothing in removing the delusions of the people; and the 
introduction of punishment would be immediately followed 
by increased fanaticism. To eradicate the evil the influ- 
ences of Christianity are also required. While the Govern- 
ment needs the cooperation of the Church, the Church 
equally needs the support of the strong arm of the Govern- 
ment. Let the Mormons be enlightened, their judgments 
convinced of their error, and then protect them in their in- 
dividual rights, as citizens of the United States, so as to 
allow them to renounce their allegiance to Mormonism and 
live independently of a sect that has controlled their con- 
sciences, as well as their lives, and the most favorable 



MAY BE ERADICATED. r 99 

results will follow. An example of the practicability of 
such measures, may be seen in the results of the labors of 
an army chaplain at Camp Douglas, who exerted some 
influence for good among the Mormons of Salt Lake, and 
then they went to that post for protection. Give them 
protection in their own homes, and ten times the amount of 
good would follow the same labor. 

Their infatuation is to a great extent attributable to their 
ignorance, and their belief in Mormonism is not oftener 
shaken because no access can be had to them. That con- 
viction of their error is not impossible, is further proved by 
the dissensions that have occurred, notwithstanding the 
persecutions these incurred. 

The first of these took place in 1852, through the influ- 
ence of one Bishop Gladden, who became the leader of 
dissenters who were known as the Gladdenites. As soon 
as the existence of the party was known, the apostates, as 
they were called, were most bitterly denounced, the people 
instructed to discountenance them, and the Bishops ordered 
to prevent them from preaching or holding meetings in their 
wards. Taking it at its incipiency, by vigorous measures 
Brigham succeeded in crushing out the organization. 

Next was a party of seceders headed by John Morris, in 
1860-61. The Morrisites became more numerous than 
the Gladdenites, and some of them still exist, though they, 
too, were pretty well crushed out at the time of the fight 
to which I before alluded when speaking of the murder c^f 
their leader. 

In 1863 the most threatening movement in opposition to 
the Brigham dynasty took place. It was the preaching of 
anti-polygamous Mormonism by the disciples of Joseph 
Smith, son of the first Prophet. Joseph claims to be the 
head of the Mormon Church, and his followers known as 
the Josephites, and to these I have before alluded, also. 

In 1863 Smith sent two missionaries from Nauvoo to 
Zion ; and notwithstanding the opposition of Brigham 
Young, they went about preaching from house to house, 
and in one winter obtained several hundred converts to 



200 HOW MORMONISM 

their branch of Mormonism, the majority of whom went 
back to the States with the missionaries the following sum- 
mer. Smith is preparing for a more extensive missionary 
work in Utah next summer. 

The slightest movement that threatens a loss of faith in 
Brigham is denounced and discouraged in every possible 
way. The Josephites are now his particular hatred, and he 
declares such apostates to be " worse than those who damn 
the Mormons and all Mormonism." 

What I have already submitted is evidence that the 
people may be convinced of their error, and the difficulty all 
lies in reaching them with the truths of Christianity. To 
elevate and save the immoral and degraded is a duty of the 
Christian Church ! To prevent and punish crime is a duty 
of the Government ! Brigham Young will interpose every 
obstacle he may be capable of bringing in the way, to 
thwart both in the discharge of these duties, but they may 
all be overcome by a judicious and systematic course. If 
churches are built for public worship, Brigham will not 
allow his saints to attend them. If the missionary visits 
the people from house to house, those who entertain him 
will be marked, and perhaps punished. The people will 
be publicly and privately cautioned to hold no fellowship 
with missionaries, and Sabbath-schools will be discounte- 
nanced. These are some of the influences that will operate 
against the success. of a missionary enterprise; but where 
is there a mission in this or foreign land that has not en- 
countered similar difficulties? 

There are several encouraging features that will be con- 
nected with an attempt to enlighten the Mormons. Not 
least among them is the influx of a Gentile population into 
the territory, and in this there is a very decided advantage 
gained. The mere contact of the two classes will have a 
wonderful effect in showing the moral, religious and physi- 
cal advantages of a different life. Then another feature is 
that the Government is committed to put down polygamy, 
and in doing so the Church will obtain the important ally 
which I have said was so necessary to secure tolerance. A 



/ 



MAY BE ERADICATED. 201 

regard for the rights of individuals, rigidly required by 
United States civil officers, with a military force to compel 
respect, would secure this. Brigham Young may be defiant 
now, but when he finds his people emerging from their pres- 
ent moral and political darkness, and contending only for 
such rights and privileges as conform to the genius of our 
institutions, and he sees the Government determined to pro- 
tect them in these rights, his influence will have waned. 
He then cannot cry "persecution and intolerance," as he 
has so often done, for it will be manifest to the people that 
the Government is protecting them from the persecution 
and intolerance of a most intolerant leader. 

The time for the- Church so take her stand and make 
use of these aids, is now fast approaching. The completion 
of the Pacific Railroad will usher in the fullness of that 
time. If she fails to improve it, the responsibility for a 
continuance of the present state of society in Utah, and 
perhaps of strife and bloodshed that may follow, will to 
some extent at least rest upon her. Such opportunities as 
the present are not often presented. I believe that nowhere 
will more willing converts to true Christianity be found than 
among the more sincere of the Mormons ; and their en- 
lightenment is more especially desirable because of their 
aggressive work in error. They are in this respect different 
from any other people among whom missionaries are sent to 
labor. Their errors are not only inculcated upon their 
children, and the sect increased by the multiplication of the 
people among themselves by natural laws, but hundreds and 
thousands are being led into error and added to their num- 
ber every year, and numbers of women hopelessly degraded 
by their practice of polygamy. 

A minister in a prominent church in Washington once 
remarked in a missionary sermon to his congregation that 
the missionaries of" our rougher brethren," the Methodists, 
are as the frontiersmen who cut down the forests, while 
they followed on to grub out the stumps and cultivate the 
fields ; and again, he compared the former to the reapers in 
the field, while the more refined followed on, and gathered 



10 



202 HOW MORMONISM 

the scattering grain that the reapers had not bound in their 
sheaves. If this minister's ideas of the labors that per- 
tained to certain branches of the Church are correct, then 
it is to " our rougher brethren," particularly, that these re- 
marks should be addressed. Let their frontiersmen or their 
reapers go forth into Utah, and I would accept the latter 
simile as the most applicable in this case, for instead of a 
forest primeval to be levelled, are fields of error fertilized 
and cultivated, now all white unto harvest, awaiting the 
scythe of the reaper. There is work for both reaper and 
gleaner. But the first great work should not be confined 
to a denomination of Christians, but on it all the Churches 
should unite their influences. That work is to secure the 
cooperation of the Government with the Church. 

The Rev. Mr. McLeod, of the Congregational Church, 
to whom I have before referred as the chaplain at Camp 
Douglas, who has done good in Salt Lake City, is now ab- 
sent in the States, lecturing against Mormonism, and col- 
lecting funds for building a church. Something more than 
the enterprise of one minister is required, and unsupported 
he can do but little — less than when he held a commission 
as chaplain. Moreover, though Mr. McLeod may be ad- 
mirably suited for the work in other respects, his exposi- 
tions and denunciations of Mormonism have made him so 
obnoxious to the people as, in my opinion, to interfere with 
the usefulness which otherwise his talents and energy would 
insure. 

Before concluding this already too long chapter on such a 
subject by such a writer, I must add a few words on the abo- 
lition of polygamy. Referring to the writer, it is but jus- 
tice to such officers to say that he is not a chaplain. That 
may have been patent to most of the readers, but not to all. 

The provision to be made for surplus wives is a subject 
that requires thoughtful attention, in connection with the 
abolition of polygamy. If the present law could be so 
construed as to be prospective in its requirements, and for- 
bid the future marrying of more than one wife, and not apply 
to those who had a plurality of wives before its passage to 



THE INDIANS OF THE PLAINS, &c. 203 

put away all but their lawful wife, I think the evil could be 
as effectually remedied in a few years. This would also 
increase the opportunities of the Church in elevating the 
standard of morality, at the same time that it labored to 
satisfy the people that their church taught not only a 
political evil, but a social, moral and natural one. 

Polygamy has already degraded the woman, and for her 
to continue as a duplicate wife until circumstances provided 
a way for her to change her relation, I consider by far pref- 
erable to compelling the man to put her away to become 
the subject of a public or a private charity. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE INDIANS OF THE PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 

The several tribes of Indians living on the prairies, and 
in the mountains of the West, are so similar in their habits, 
and in their general traits of character, that I may not im- 
properly speak of them all as one people, and refer to any 
peculiarities of a single tribe that may occur to me as I 
wiite. 

The tribes that came under my personal observation 
during the march, of which I have given some account in 
this work, were respectively the Ottoe, Pawnee, Sioux, 
Cheyenne, Utes and Shoshones. The first named is 
but the remnant of a tribe now living on an Indian 
reservation in Kansas. They are supposed to be more 
nearly civilized than the others, being thrown in contact with 
more whites, and to a very limited extent cultivate the soil. 
They have not been hostile for a long time. 

The Pawnees have also been greatly decimated bv their 
conflicts with the Sioux, who were vastly their superiors in 
numbers, though for gallantry and skill in Indian warfare 



204 THE INDIANS OF THE 

they did not surpass their unfortunate enemies. The Paw- 
nees also occupy a reservation in the eastern part of 
Nebraska, and may be no longer regarded as among the 
hostile Indians of the plains. 

The Sioux and Cheyenne roam over the prairies, border- 
ing the mountains, and up into them, and the former claim 
as their favorite hunting ground a portion of Dakota Ter- 
ritory, through which the Government has established, and 
is endeavoring to protect an emigrant route. This they 
refuse to give up, and in a large council at Fort Laramie 
last June, no advantageous treaty for the possession of that 
country could be made. 

The Sioux tribe is the largest on the plains, and their hos- 
tilities to emigrants since the failure of the Indian Commis- 
sion to treat with them satisfactorily on the occasion referred 
to, will probably result in another Indian war next sum- 
mer. 

The tribe is divided into seven principal bands, who roam 
from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains, but each in a 
somewhat circumscribed locality which they claim as their 
own hunting-ground. In consequence of this division 
of the tribe they sometimes call themselves the Seven Coun- 
cil Fires. They have proved the most dangerous enemies 
the white man has among the savages of the West. 
In 1854 they massacred Lieutenant Grattan, and thirty 
men, without leaving a man of his party to tell of the mas- 
sacre; and in the winter of 1866-7 Brevet Lieutenant-Col- 
onel Fetterman, Captain Brown and Lieutenant Grummond, 
with over ninety men, shared a similar fate at the hands of 
the same tribe, and such other Indians as had united with 
them for murder and robbery. 

The Utes range in and west of the Rocky Mountains, 
from Bridger Pass as far west as Salt Lake City, and then 
southward to New Mexico. The Shoshone (or Snake) 
tribe have their favorite hunting-ground in the Wind River 
Valley, and travel south and west during the summer months. 
These two tribes are now at peace with the white man, and 
receive their annual presents from the Government. Only 



PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 205 

three years ago the Snakes were at war with the troops sta- 
tioned in Utah, but after a severe battle on Bear River, in 
which they were severely punished, and sustained a great 
loss, they in the dead of winter, and in an almost starving 
condition, begged for peace, and for subsistence. When 
they arrayed themselves against the white men in the terri- 
tory, it was in opposition to the advice of their chief Washiki, 
who is the finest specimen of an Indian I ever saw. He 
abandoned the leadership of the tribe, rather than indulge in 
a war which he knew must prove disastrous to the red man. 
In their folly they elected another chief, and paid for it in 
the disaster to which I alluded. During the war, Washiki, 
with his squaws and a small party, camped in the vicinity of 
Fort Bridger, and after its termination the tribe were only 
too glad to reinstate him in his former official position. 

The general appearance of the Indian, and his physique, 
are too well understood to justify a description of them here. 
I must add, however, that in stature and in physical strength 
he fell far below my expectations. The Indians of the West, 
who go to Washington on business with the Indian Bureau, 
or to visit their u Great Father," and the noble-looking fig- 
ures which appeared in Mr. Stanley's collection of paintings, 
destroyed by fire in the Smithsonian Institute a few years 
ago, are by no means representatives of the masses to which 
I have just alluded. I have seen but one Indian, Washiki, 
in all my travels, who could be classed with such as I refer- 
red to. In physical strength and muscular development they 
are much the inferior of the average of white men, and will 
never encounter them in single combat. 

Let me write first about the squaws, though they are of 
the degraded sex, as I have so much to say about their "lords," 
who are better known in western parlance as " bucks," 
that I might occupy all the space allowed for this chapter 
without referring to them. 

The beauty of the squaws, as I have observed them, is all 
a myth. I have yet to see one bearing the slightest com 
parison in point of beauty with Pocahontas as she is describ- 
ed and painted. I found the large majority of them exceed 



206 THE INDIANS OF THE 

ingly homely and many horribly ugly. This is the case 
particularly with the old women, some of whom have the 
most unsightly faces I ever saw on human forms ; and to make 
their appearance still more disgusting, are their filthy per- 
sons and habits. They have no incentive to be otherwise, 
for they are the most complete slaves of the men (not the 
old squaws only, but all), and are required to do all manner 
of drudgery. They dress and tan skins, prepare and dry 
game, put up and take down lodges, transport them on the 
animals they ride, catch and saddle the ponies of the men, 
and in a word, do everything but hunt and fight. They are 
not easily distinguished from the men at a distance, when 
their features cannot be observed, and, indeed, many times 
I have been unable to distinguish them by their features, or 
in any other way, as the outer dress of both is alike — a buf- 
falo-skin or a blanket. They are generally shorter and 
broader than the men, and formed not unlike the negress. 
The dress of the female consists in an unnameable garment, 
extending from the neck to the knees, open under each arm 
nearly to the waist, and not in front or behind, which seems 
rather inconvenient when nursing their children ; a pair of 
short leggins - , the moccasin, and the robe or blanket. They 
ride in the same manner that men do. Both sexes have 
their heads uncovered, as a rule, though sometimes the men 
wear old hats obtained from soldiers or immigrants, and both 
wear their hair long, which is invariably thick and black. 

The women, particularly, discard all covering for their 
heads except their robes, or blankets. These they pull 
over them in the same way the men do. I have seen 
squaws who have left their tribes, to live with white men, 
who have been dressed like ladies in every other respect, 
but refuse, under all circumstances, " a love of a bonnet ; " 
and though they may wear a fine delaine dress and cashmere 
shawl, the latter will be pulled up to answer instead of a 
hat. 

The squaws carry their pappooses in a variety of con- 
trivances. Some fold their blankets in a way to form a 
bag on their back, large enough to hold the offspring in an 



PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 207 

upright position, with its head out ; others have a leather or 
skin pouch, in which the babe is carried, hung to the back 
of his mother ; and others carry them in the same position, 
in a case of bark or dried stiff skins, with only an opening 
over the face. This contrivance lesemblesa metallic burial- 
' case more than anything else I can think of now. 

When the hopeful cries, the mother pacifies it by sway- 
ing herself from side to side, or back and front. Walking 
or riding, as a rule, they are carried on the back, but I have 
seen a pappoose, in a skin pouch, suspended from the pom- 
mel of a saddle, like a pistol and holster. It is a common 
thing for an Indian mother to make a long journey, and 
carry her infant in some one of these ways when it is only 
a few days old. 

When the mother gives birth to her child it is not un- 
common for no third person to be present. She then lives 
in a hut, or lodge, by herself, until the child is twenty-five 
or thirty days old, when she takes it to its father, who then 
sees his child for the first time. Chastity is observed by 
the young squaw and guarded by the mother, because it in- 
creases the chances of her becoming the wife of a " big 
Indian," rather than from any moral restraint. Infidelity 
is not cor: /non among wives, and when it occurs is often 
followed by severe punishment to both guilty parties. The 
lover may be slain, but it is not uncommon to appease the 
anger of the injured husband by the present of a pony or 
other valuable gift. 

Indian children of a few years, of both sexes, I think, are 
more attractive in appearance than when they become 
older. They are generally treated very kindly, and soon 
become "spoiled children" in the fullest sense of the word. 
When a youngster of six or eight strikes his father it is 
regarded as a hopeful sign of coming bravery, and is spoken 
of accordingly. The boys are early taught that their mother 
is to be their slave. 

The men are hunters and warriors only. They consider 
it degrading to the sex to do any kind of manual labor. I 
think there is combined with this pride a laziness, which, of 



208 THE INDIANS OF THE 

itself, might account for their habits as long as they have 
their women with them to do the work. This, they think, 
is her sphere of life. I was amused one day at the conduct 
of an intelligent and rather fine-looking warrior, when asked 
by one of the ladies in our party if he loved his wife. The 
fellow understood and spoke English. The idea seemed 
quite absurd to him, and laughing and shaking his head, he 
turned to his father-in-law, who was sitting next to him, 
and said something very amusing to him also, probably that 
the pale-faced women were big fools to think of their sex 
being loveable creatures. 

The men and boys are all good riders and prize their 
ponies very highly, though their ill-treatment of the animals 
seem rather inconsistent with real fondness for them. 
Their sporting arms and war weapons are of great variety, 
from the Henry repeating rifles and Colt's revolvers to 
their primitive weapons, the bow and arrow and the lance. 
The large majority are armed only with the latter. In 
their hands the bow and arrow is decidedly the most effec- 
tive, and these they use with great skill, shooting their 
arrows in rapid succession, with remarkable accuracy, and 
a force that will send them entirely through the body of a 
buffalo. The arrows are sometimes poisoned, for war pur- 
poses, by the tribes east of the mountains. This is done by 
touching their tips in the poison of the rattle-snake, and 
some vegetable poison they also use for the purpose, but I 
have been unable to ascertain what it is. Their bows vary 
in size. The Indians who always go mounted, have short 
ones, say three feet long, while some of the tribes in the 
West, who fight on foot, have them nearly twice as long. 
Each tribe makes its arrows of a particular kind of wood, 
or in a peculiar way, so that the tribe can be told by its 
arrows. 

Scalping is still practiced among all the tribes, and not 
only the warrior who is slain in battle, but the lonely Indian 
hunter or the poor immigrant, who falls by an arrow from 
the bow of his wily foe, have their bodies mutilated in the 
same way. Nor are the dead only subjected to this barbar- 



PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 209 

ous practice, but a wounded enemy is scalped when he is 
supposed to have a mortal wound, or one such may be 
given him after the process. Sometimes these wounds do 
not prove fatal, and the injured party recovers, minus a 
slice of the skin and hair along the top of his head. The 
most approved way of scalping is to take only a small 
piece of skin from the occiput, to which the " scalp-lock " 
is attached. I saw a fresh scalp last fall taken by a Ute 
from an Arrapahoe. The brave who took it seemed to 
have been rather greedy, as it included the entire skin of the 
head. It was stretched out on a little hoop of willow, and 
the squaw of the owner carried it, and appeared to be very 
careful of the precious property. Whatever size or shape 
the trophy may be, it must contain the scalp-lock. This 
is to prevent fraud. If some such precaution were not 
taken, a dishonest warrior might cut up one into a dozen. 
Scalps with long hair attached are more highly prized, and 
used in decorating the person of the brave who owns them. 
The insignia of rank is often made from these, and consists 
of portions of the scalp attached to the shoulder, or on the 
fringe of the leggings, &c. 

A "scalp-dance " is no ordinary occasion of rejoicing; it 
occurs after the warrior returns to his friends with his trophies. 
If, after a battle, in which some of the tribe may have 
been killed, the mourning of the relatives is turned into re- 
joicing, at the evidence of revenge for their slain, and all 
are merry alike. The scalps not used as ornaments are 
carefully preserved by the owners as evidence of their 
prowess, and if at any time a dispute as to the bravery of a 
warrior arises, he produces his trophies of battle, or cold- 
blooded murder, as the case may be. 

Chieftainship is not always hereditary, though the son of 
a " Big Chief," the head of a tribe, is an under-chief by 
virtue of his birth, but at the death of his father he does 
not succeed him as the head of the tribe unless he has ar- 
rived at proper age, and has exhibited such discretion and 
valor as to entitle him to the position. Tribes are divided 
into bands, and over each is a chief; and bands have also 



10* 



210 THE INDIANS OF THE 

their subdivisions, with their chief. At the death of the head 
of a tribe, the other chiefs select from their number his 
successor, giving preference to the child-chief, all other 
qualifications being equal. 

The medicine-man is probably, next to the chief, the 
most important and distinguished member of the tribe to 
which he belongs. He is doctor, sorcerer, priest, and al- 
together a wonderful man. For the cure of disease he re- 
lies principally upon the laying-on of hands ; and I hope > 
for the benefit of sick savages, he is more successful than 
the Mormons are in the same practice. These manipula- 
tions are made with many gestures, amidst all kinds of 
sounds on the part of the persons present looking on, as well as 
the nianipulator. They use also certain herb infusions, the 
principal virtue of which is supposed to be imparted by the 
ceremony which goes on during the preparation. Some of 
the tribe treat their diseases indiscriminately by taking a hot 
steam-bath, and a cold plunge immediately afterward. 
They construct a little bath-house with twigs, and throw 
their blankets over it, or put their blankets over their heads, 
taking some very hot stones under them, pour on the water, 
which causes the steam to arise, and the perspiration to pour 
out upon the skin, when they will come out of their steam- 
baths, which are taken by a stream, and plunge into the 
cold water. 

If the disease can be localized, the most reliable remedy 
under such circumstances is for the medicine-man to apply 
his mouth and suck (imagine the shudder of the writer) the 
skin or diseased part to remove the morbid humors. If the 
patient is suffering from a wound, that process is almost 
certainly gone through with. They not unfrequently prac- 
tice a little chicanery, and work upon the imagination of 
the patient by producing an insect, or a bit of stone, or al- 
most anything, while they are going through their cantations 
and manipulations, which they had secreted about their per- 
son, and then present it to the patient with the representa- 
tion that it is the embodiment of the disease that has been 
extracted from the system. Why isn't this as justifiable 



PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 211 

and good a practice, as to make people believe tnat they are 
cured by little sugar-pills marked aconit., belladonna, nux 
vomica, chinco., etc., upon the miniature vials that contain 
them. The medicine-men of the Sioux tribe have a sacred 
language which is unintelligible to the masses. As I said 
before, the medicine-man is a great deal thought of by the 
Indians, and they, like people generally with pale faces, 
are disposed to attribute a good deal of the work of nature 
to the doctor's remedies. 

The tribes I have seen are not the inveterate smokers 
the nation have the reputation of being, but all seem to in- 
dulge, more or less. Pure tobacco is never smoked by the 
Indian, and with many no tobacco at all, but the dry bark 
of the young willow-tree, Their kilikinnik is supposed to 
consist of a mixture of one-third tobacco and the remainder 
of willow-bark or dried sumach leaves. I find the addition 
of these substances in smaller proportions is a great improve- 
ment to the ordinary smoking tobacco, according to my 
taste. 

The Indian smokes differently from the white man, and 
inhales the fumes into his lungs, hence he cannot tolerate 
the pungency of our tobacco. I have seen three or four 
coughing and contorting their faces after a puff or two from 
the pipe of an officer, who passed it to them as an evidence 
of friendship. 

The Indian is not named in childhood, but assumes a 
name as he grows up for some distinguishing feat or peculiar 
characteristic, and changes it from time to time as more fit- 
ting ones are suggested. Some of their names are very odd 
and some quite obscene. 

The wife is sometimes " wooed and won," as if there 
was something of sentiment in the Indian character, but oft- 
ener purchased without the wooing. When the desired ob- 
ject is particularly attractive, and of a good family, the court- 
ing and purchasing both may be required. Indians are po- 
lygamists, and when a brave or chief desires to multiply the 
number of his wives he often marries several sisters, if they 
can be had, not because of any particular fancy he may have 



2i2 THE INDIANS OF THE 

for any but the one who first captivated him, but because he 
thinks it more likely to have harmony in the household 
when they are all of one family. Not even squaws can live 
happily together when each may have a part interest in the 
mm as their husband jointly. Polygamy is inconsistent 
with the female character, whether in barbarism or civiliza- 
tion. As many skins as they can transport on their ponies, 
of the game killed while on their hunts, are dressed by the 
squaws and then taken to some trading-post, a military sta- 
tion, or elsewhere, and bartered off for such articles as are 
most useful to them ; and I am sorry to say that powder, 
lead and caps, too often, and in too large quantities, are the 
articles traded for. They are willing to allow much more, 
proportionately, for ammunition, than any other articles. 
Buffalo robes, bear-skins, and deer and antelope skins, are 
the ones they generally bring in, though some of the tribes 
trap or shoot the beaver, otter, etc., expressly for their 
furs. 

The Indian dead are disposed of in several ways. Some 
of the tribes, the Sioux among them, place the body on an 
elevated platform in an unfrequented place ; others bury it 
in the ground, and others hide it in crevices of the rocks, &c. 
All that pertained to the dead, while living, in the way of 
robes, blankets, weapons, cooking utensils, &c.,are also de- 
posited with the body. In some instances the horse is buried 
with the dead body of his former rider placed in the saddle. 
They believe that the spirit of the deceased wanders off to 
distant hunting-grounds ; and as it may have to pass over a 
country where there is no game, a quantity of dried buffalo 
meat is usually left with the body for its subsistence while 
on the journey. With tribes that do not bury horse and 
rider together, a horse belonging to the deceased is usually 
shot that his spirit may not have to go afoot a long journey 
to his new hunting-ground. A gentlemen informed me 
that recently he was passing a camp of the Snakes, when he 
saw three of their finest horses, shot, and upon inquiring why 
it was done, learned that an Indian who had owned them 
died the night before. When a married brave dies, his squaw 



PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 213 

subjects herself to all manner of torture as evidence of the 
sincerity of her grief. They often lacerate their bodies in 
the most horrid manner, and subject themselves to various 
other kinds of suffering. The squaw, like her sex general- 
ly, is proud of her hair, but on such occasions it is cut close 
to the head. The tribes that bury their dead are careful to 
leave nothing that would indicate a grave, though the friends 
observe landmarks by which they can ever afterward tell 
the exact spot where they lie. These places of sepulture 
are held as sacred as a Christian nation's, and when a tribe 
is again passing such localities, they will make a detour, 
rather than go the more direct road, by the resting-place of 
their dead, while the relatives leave the trail and go alone 
to the spot, and there repeat their mourning as if in the pres- 
ence of the departed. They also leave their presents for 
the dead of such little trinkets as he most prized before he 
departed to his new hunting-ground. How beautiful this 
practice of a barbarous nation, which savors so much of the 
finer sensibilities of the most enlightened ! 

The Indians are almost universally fond of whiskey, and 
have a strong propensity for gambling. They will risk at 
cards almost everything they own, and if unsuccessful ap- 
pear quite satisfied with their loss. I wonder if there is 
something in the atmosphere of the Far West that makes 
gambling so general. Upon that hypothesis I might ac- 
count for the habits of a good many of my pale-faced 
friends. 

The Indians have a peculiar way of defining time. 
When they wish to designate an hour of the day they point 
to the position the sun should be in at that time. The 
number of days is the number of sleeps. Ask a Sho- 
shone how far it is from Salt Lake City to Fort Bridger, and 
he will place the side of his head upon the palm of his hand, 
signifying sleep, and hold up four fingers, meaning that num- 
ber of days or sleeps will be passed on the journey. Their 
next division of time is the number of moons, instead of 
our months, and the seasons are indicated by the state of 
vegetation, &c. For instance, spring is when the grass be- 



414 THE INDIANS OF THE 

gins to grow, and autumn when the leaves fall from the 
trees, while the years are indicated as the number of 
seasons. 

There is a language of signs common to all the tribes, by 
which one tribe may communicate with another, without 
being able to speak or understand its dialect. Each tribe is 
known by some particular sign. The Pawnee, called by 
some the Wolf Tribe, are known by the sign of placing by the 
side of the head the two forefingers of the right hand. 
representing a wolf's ears. The Cheyenne, or Cut Wrists, are 
known by the sign of drawing the edge of their hand across 
the left wrist ; the Sioux, or Cut-Throats, by drawing the 
edge of the hand across the throat ; the Utes have a com- 
plicated sign denoting " Living in the Mountains ; " the 
Shoshone, or Snake Tribe, by making a motion similar to 
that made by the snake. 

The principal diet of the Indians of the West is meat r 
which they obtain by hunting wild game, and eat it fresh 
in season or where it abounds, and dry it for use when 
away from their hunting-grounds. They also make use of 
some varieties of wild vegetables, but none of the tribes that 
I have named cultivate the soil. They by no means despise 
many articles of the white man's diet. Of coffee they are 
fond, but sugar they prefer to eat alone and undissolved, and 
seem to regard it as a very great delicacy. 

The Indian is noted for his powers of endurance, of both 
fatigue and physical pain. A gentleman recently cited to 
me a remarkable example of the latter, which he witnessed 
near Fort Laramie last summer. The representatives of a 
la r ge number of tribes had collected there, with a view to 
enacting the farce of a treaty. When riding out near the 
post one day, he observed a large collection of Indians appa- 
rently enjoying very much some exhibition that was then 
taking place, and upon approaching the spot he saw Indians 
inflicting upon themselves the severest torture to prove their 
fitness to rank as warriors of the tribe. The process was 
this : a buck Indian would gather up in one hand as much 
of the skin and flesh as he could grasp over the pectoral 



PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 215 

muscle (the large muscle 011 the side of the chest) and then* 
transfix it with a knife, making an incision large enough to 
pass in a stout stick ; to this stick was attached a rope with 
the other end fastened to the top of a pole set in the ground. 
When this was done the Indian would pull back until he 
tore out the stick through the skin and flesh, and if unable 
to accomplish it by a steady pull, he would forcibly throw 
himself backward, hoping by a sudden jerk to overco me 
the resistance of the tissues. The friend who observed all 
this represented that in one instance the savage had trans- 
fixed the muscle so deeply as to be unable, without assist- 
ance to tear it through, so he had his pony fastened to him > 
and made to pull until he was liberated ; when his conduct 
was applauded by the loudest shouts of his companions. 
After subjecting themselves to this ordeal, they ranked 
higher in the tribe, and seemed very proud of their new 
honor. 

Captain Burton, when he visited the Far West in i860, in 
speaking of the power of endurance in the Indian, says: 
u their fortitude and endurance of pain is the result, as 
in the prize-fighter, of undeveloped brain." If the Captain 
should again visit this country, and be invited to the 
floor of the House of Representatives, he might not be 
very cordially received by all its members. 

There are things connected with the habits of the Indian 
I might mention, but I have already extended this chapter 
longer than I intended, and I must now add something 
about his character and conduct toward the whites who 
chance to be in his country. 

" The noble red man " is a prolific subject for the novel- 
ist, who knows nothing about his real character, and the 
" Poor Indian" is made to live in song very prejudicial to 
the character of those who have to deal with him. 

The settler in the Far West, and the immigrant journeying 
across the continent, regard the red-skin in a very different 
light from the novelist and the poet. I know of but two 
or three Indians of the Rocky Mountain tribes who are 
supposed, even by the pseudo-humanitarians in the vi- 



'i6 THE INDIANS OF THE 

cinity of Salt Lake City, to possess a single trait of true 
nobility. The character of Pocahontas in saving the cap- 
tive Smith, is so out of keeping with the character of squaws 
of the present day, that if I regard her as a specimen of her 
nation, then I must consider the squaws now debased beyond 
hope of improvement. But it is now made to appear that 
Captain Smith's story of Pocahontas saving his life was all 
a fabrication, and that she possessed none of the remarkable 
feelings of kindness, or an) other of the good traits generally 
attributed to her ; that she was a common indecent squaw, 
perhaps of more than ordinary attractiveness of appear- 
ance, and lionized in England after she became the wife 
of an Englishman. 

The Indian does everything through motives of policy. 
He has none of the kindlier feelings of humanity in him. 
He is as devoid of gratitude as he is hypocritical and 
treacherous. He observes a treaty or promise only so long 
as it is dangerous for him to disregard it, or for his interest, 
in other ways, to keep it. His selfishness is unequalled by 
any other people, and is often manifested in the most unnat- 
ural ways. For instance : when a tribe is moving, a 
u buck " may have two or three extra horses running loose, 
but he will not allow a brother, or sister, or mother, to ride 
one of them, though thev may be journeying afoot. Cruelty 
is inherent in them, and is early manifested in the young 
pappoose torturing birds, or any little animal that may fall 
into his hands, and he seems to delight in it ; while the 
pleasure of the adult in torturing his prisoners is most un- 
questionable. 

These are usually inflicted by the squaws, because it is 
supposed to be more mortifying and humiliating to be tor- 
tured by a woman. They are inveterate beggars, but never 
give unless with a view to receive a more valuable present 
in return, and then their's is likely to be reclaimed. Hence 
we hear our children say," I wouldn't make an Indian gift." 
They lie from principle, as it were. To sum up the whole 
in a word, they possess every trait of human character that 
is despicable, and no trait that is noble. 



PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 217 

The white man he has been taught is his enemy, and he 
has become the most implacable enemy of the white man. 
His most fiendish murders of the innocent is his sweetest 
revenge for a wrong that has been done by another. 

At Fort Laramie, last summer, as I have before stated, 
there was an Indian Commission sent out by authority of 
the Interior Department at Washington, to treat with the 
Sioux and other hostile tribes. The president of the Com- 
mission was a Quaker gentleman with a heart overflowing 
with the milk of human kindness, and he went there, as 
he said, to fight the Indian with a new weapon — " Christian 
love." To those who understand the Indian character, and 
saw of what material the commission was composed, it was 
evident what would be the result of the grand council 
which had been so much talked about on the plains ; and 
what has been the result ? It is certainly not very encour- 
aging to the commission. There have been more murders 
by the Indians of the tribe represented in that council than 
ever before occurred in the same length of time. Unpro- 
tected immigrants have been massacred ; telegraph stations 
destroyed, and the operators and guard made to share the 
same fate as the immigrant ; five officers of the U. S. Army, 
and nearly one hundred and fifty men, have been murdered ; 
and the life of an individual is not safe outside the stockades 
of the forts in the country the commission came to treat for 
the possession of. 

Who were the Indians that met at Laramie on the occa- 
sion of the treaty ? The best authorities represent that 
they were the old men, squaws, and their children, who 
made it an occasion for eating Government rations and 
drinking sutler whiskey, while the warriors of the tribes 
were out hunting and plundering, so as to secure a sufficient 
stock of necessaries preparatory to open hostilities that were 
to follow. An idea of the spirit manifested by even those 
who had assembled, might have been formed when an old 
chief comes forward with a pipe in one hand and a bow and 
arrow in the other, and offers to Colonel Maynadier, the 
commanding officer, his choice, perfectly defiant, meaning, 



2i8 THE INDIANS OF THE 

if the Indian could have what he wanted they would 
smoke together, but if he could not, then they would 
fight. 

The terms of the fruitless treaty 1 have not learned ; but 
the Indians persisted in retaining the Powder River country 
as their hunting-ground, while an emigrant route had al- 
ready been opened through it, and forts established. Ex- 
tensive presents were made to conciliate the Indian, who 
would not treat satisfactorily. They recovered the blan- 
kets, clothing, hatchets, etc., that were given to them, as evi- 
dence that the white man was afraid of them ; and the butch- 
er-knives which were included in the presents, were found 
very useful and efficient by slightly perverting their use, and 
scalping immigrants within a hundred miles of the post, two 
months after the adjournment of the council. By authority of 
the commission, the Indians were allowed to purchase or trade 
for powder of the sutler, whose stock was soon exhausted, 
but afterward replenished from the nearest point — Denver 
City; — and that too disposed of. This was probably the new 
mode of fighting with " Christian love." It certainly fur- 
nished the Indians with the means of fighting much more 
effectively. 

It is the purpose of the Government to protect the emi- 
grant to the western territory ; but the temporizing policy 
of the Interior Department has so trammeled the War 
Office, as to defeat the ends which the Government desire 
to attain. A more decisive course will doubtless soon be 
i'.iaugurated. At the date of this writing the House of Rep- 
resentatives have passed a bill transfering the Indian 
Bureau to the War Department, and there is but little doubt 
of the concurrence of the Senate and the approval of the 
President. 

General Sherman in his annual report, which was writ- 
ten before the Fort Phil. Kearney massacre, declared his 
intention to confine the several tribes to certain specified 
localities, and if an Indian is found outside his proper limits, 
without a pass, he is to be " summarily punished," which I 
construe to mean he will be shot. And again : when refer- 



PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 219 

ring to the murder of Lieutenant Daniek, of the 18th 
Infantry, and a few soldiers who were the only parties killed 
up to that time, he says " their death must be avenged next 
summer." General Sherman is not noted for using idle 
words for effect ! Since his report was sent in the atroci- 
ties have been increased ten-fold, which will doubtless result 
in a ten-fold sterner policy on the part of that distinguished 
officer, more particularly if the Bureau is made a part of the 
War Department, for in his report he seems fearful lest he 
should come in conflict with some of the treaties of the 
Secretary of the Interior. He does not, however, hesitate 
to forbid the sale of arms to Indians when the Indian Com- 
missioner has authorized it. 

The reader can well imagine the disgust of officers on 
the frontier, after learning the particulars of the massacre of 
our personal friends, when we read in the newspaper tele- 
grams from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs discrediting 
the published accounts of the outrage ; and when forced to 
believe them, other telegrams, to the effect that there must 
have been some misunderstanding, or the Indian would not have 
been so naughty j and then again, others that he has requested 
an investigation into the matter by Congress that justice 
may be done to the Indian as well as the military. How decid- 
edly cool, when the lives of hundreds and thousands are in 
jeopardy because of the confidence imparted to the savages- 
by their success in the fearful massacre which the Indian 
Bureau would justify if possible. 

It is my opinion that the present generation of Indians 
can be taught but little idea of moral obligations ; that they 
cannot be christianized, as at present situated ; and the only 
alternative remaining is to punish them for their crimes,, 
and keep them in constant fear of further punishment, if 
they dare offend, until the settlers in the Indian country be- 
come sufficiently numerous to defend themselves. 



THE END. 



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